The NAIA Football National Championship is decided by a post-season playoff system featuring the best National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) college football teams in the United States. Under sponsorship of the NAIA, the championship game has been played annually since 1956.[1]
In 1970, NAIA football was divided into two divisions based on enrollment, Division I and Division II, with a championship game played in each division. In 1997, NAIA football was again consolidated back into one division. NAIA schools are allowed to offer 24 full varsity football scholarships which can be divided up as they wish. Junior varsity scholarship players do not count towards the total.
Texas A&I (now known as Texas A&M–Kingsville) is still the most prolific program with seven NAIA championships, despite having been in NCAA Division II since 1980. Carroll College of Montana is the most successful team still playing at the NAIA level, with six national titles.
^"NAIA Football Championship History". National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved April 7, 2008.
January 01, 1970
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The NAIA Football National Championship is decided by a post season playoff system featuring the best National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics NAIA college football teams in the United States Under sponsorship of the NAIA the championship game has been played annually since 1956 1 NAIA Football National ChampionshipIn operation1956 presentPreceded bySmall college polls amp NAIA Division II ChampionshipNumber of playoff teams20Championship trophyTom Osborne TrophyTelevision partner s ESPN3Most playoff championshipsTexas A amp M Kingsville 7 Current championKeiser 2023 WebsiteNAIA Football In 1970 NAIA football was divided into two divisions based on enrollment Division I and Division II with a championship game played in each division In 1997 NAIA football was again consolidated back into one division NAIA schools are allowed to offer 24 full varsity football scholarships which can be divided up as they wish Junior varsity scholarship players do not count towards the total Texas A amp I now known as Texas A amp M Kingsville is still the most prolific program with seven NAIA championships despite having been in NCAA Division II since 1980 Carroll College of Montana is the most successful team still playing at the NAIA level with six national titles Keiser is the current champion having defeated the Northwestern Red Raiders in the 2023 title game 31 21 Contents 1 Game name 2 Results 3 Championships by school 4 See also 5 ReferencesGame name editOver the years the NAIA championship games were played under a variety of names Aluminum Bowl 1956 Holiday Bowl 1957 1960 a Camellia Bowl 1961 1963 b Champion Bowl 1964 1976 and 1980 1996 Division I games only Apple Bowl 1977 Division I game only Palm Bowl 1978 1979 Division I games only Results editSeason Date Champion Score Runner up Location Winninghead coach es 1956 December 22 1956 Montana State Saint Joseph s IN 0 0 c Little Rock Arkansas Tony StortiBob Jauron 1957 December 21 1957 Pittsburg State 27 26 Hillsdale Saint Petersburg Florida Carnie Smith 1958 December 20 1958 Northeastern State 19 13 Arizona State Flagstaff Saint Petersburg Florida Harold Tuffy Stratton 1959 December 19 1959 Texas A amp I 20 7 Lenoir Rhyne Saint Petersburg Florida Gil Steinke 1960 December 17 1960 Lenoir Rhyne 15 14 Humboldt State Saint Petersburg Florida Clarence Stasavich 1961 December 9 1961 Pittsburg State 12 7 Linfield Sacramento California Carnie Smith 1962 December 8 1962 Central State OK 28 13 Lenoir Rhyne Sacramento California Al Blevins 1963 December 14 1963 Saint John s MN 33 27 Prairie View A amp M Sacramento California John Gagliardi 1964 December 12 1964 Concordia MN Sam Houston State 7 7 c Augusta Georgia Jake ChristiansenPaul Pierce 1965 December 11 1965 Saint John s MN 33 0 Linfield Augusta Georgia John Gagliardi 1966 December 10 1966 Waynesburg 42 21 Wisconsin Whitewater Tulsa Oklahoma Carl DePasqua 1967 December 9 1967 Fairmont State 28 21 Eastern Washington Morgantown West Virginia Harold Deacon Duvall 1968 December 14 1968 Troy State 43 35 Texas A amp I Montgomery Alabama Billy Atkins 1969 December 13 1969 Texas A amp I 32 7 Concordia MN Kingsville Texas Gil Steinke 1970 December 12 1970 Texas A amp I 48 7 Wofford Greenville South Carolina Gil Steinke 1971 December 11 1971 Livingston 14 12 Arkansas Tech Birmingham Alabama Mickey Andrews 1972 December 9 1972 East Texas State 21 18 Carson Newman Commerce Texas Ernest Hawkins 1973 December 8 1973 Abilene Christian 42 14 Elon Shreveport Louisiana Wally Bullington 1974 December 14 1974 Texas A amp I 34 23 Henderson State Kingsville Texas Gil Steinke 1975 December 13 1975 Texas A amp I 37 0 Salem Kingsville Texas Gil Steinke 1976 December 11 1976 Texas A amp I 26 0 Central Arkansas Kingsville Texas Gil Steinke 1977 December 10 1977 Abilene Christian 24 7 Southwestern Oklahoma State Seattle Washington DeWitt Jones 1978 December 16 1978 Angelo State 34 14 Elon McAllen Texas Jim Hess 1979 December 15 1979 Texas A amp I 20 14 Central State OK McAllen Texas Ron Harms 1980 December 20 1980 Elon 17 10 Northeastern State Burlington North Carolina Jerry Tolley 1981 December 19 1981 Elon 3 0 Pittsburg State Burlington North Carolina Jerry Tolley 1982 December 18 1982 Central State OK 14 11 Mesa State Edmond Oklahoma Gary Howard 1983 December 17 1983 Carson Newman 36 28 Mesa State Grand Junction Colorado Ken Sparks 1984 December 15 1984 Carson NewmanCentral Arkansas 19 19 c Conway Arkansas Ken SparksHarold Horton 1985 December 21 1985 HillsdaleCentral Arkansas 10 10 c Conway Arkansas Dick LowryHarold Horton 1986 December 20 1986 Carson Newman 17 0 Cameron Jefferson City Tennessee Ken Sparks 1987 December 19 1987 Cameron 30 2 Carson Newman Lawton Oklahoma Brian Naber 1988 December 17 1988 Carson Newman 56 21 Adams State Jefferson City Tennessee Ken Sparks 1989 December 16 1989 Carson Newman 34 20 Emporia State Jefferson City Tennessee Ken Sparks 1990 December 8 1990 Central State OH 38 16 Mesa State Grand Junction Colorado Billy Joe 1991 December 14 1991 Central Arkansas 19 16 Central State OH Wilberforce Ohio Mike Isom 1992 December 12 1992 Central State OH 19 16 Gardner Webb Boiling Springs North Carolina Billy Joe 1993 December 11 1993 East Central 49 35 Glenville State Ada Oklahoma Hank Walbrick 1994 December 10 1994 Northeastern State 13 12 Arkansas Pine Bluff Pine Bluff Arkansas Tom Eckert 1995 December 2 1995 Central State OH 37 7 Northeastern State Tahlequah Oklahoma Rick Comegy 1996 December 7 1996 Southwestern Oklahoma State 33 31 Montana Tech Weatherford Oklahoma Paul Sharp 1997 December 20 1997 Findlay 14 7 Willamette Savannah Tennessee Dick Strahm 1998 December 19 1998 Azusa Pacific 17 14 Olivet Nazarene Savannah Tennessee Vic Shealy 1999 December 18 1999 Northwestern Oklahoma State 34 26 Georgetown KY Savannah Tennessee Tim Albin 2000 December 16 2000 Georgetown KY 20 0 Northwestern Oklahoma State Savannah Tennessee Bill Cronin 2001 December 15 2001 Georgetown KY 49 27 Sioux Falls Savannah Tennessee Bill Cronin 2002 December 21 2002 Carroll MT 28 7 Georgetown KY Savannah Tennessee Mike Van Diest 2003 December 20 2003 Carroll MT 41 28 Northwestern Oklahoma State Savannah Tennessee Mike Van Diest 2004 December 18 2004 Carroll MT 15 13 2 OT Saint Francis IN Savannah Tennessee Mike Van Diest 2005 December 17 2005 Carroll MT 27 10 Saint Francis IN Savannah Tennessee Mike Van Diest 2006 December 16 2006 Sioux Falls 23 19 Saint Francis IN Savannah Tennessee Kalen DeBoer 2007 December 15 2007 Carroll MT 17 9 Sioux Falls Savannah Tennessee Mike Van Diest 2008 December 20 2008 Sioux Falls 23 7 Carroll MT Rome Georgia Kalen DeBoer 2009 December 19 2009 Sioux Falls 25 22 Lindenwood Rome Georgia Kalen DeBoer 2010 December 18 2010 Carroll MT 10 7 Sioux Falls Rome Georgia Mike Van Diest 2011 December 17 2011 Saint Xavier 24 20 Carroll MT Rome Georgia Mike Feminis 2012 December 13 2012 Marian IN 30 27 OT Morningside Rome Georgia Ted Karras Jr 2013 December 21 2013 Grand View 35 23 Cumberlands KY Rome Georgia Mike Woodley 2014 December 19 2014 Southern Oregon 55 31 Marian IN Daytona Beach Florida Craig Howard 2015 December 19 2015 Marian IN 31 14 Southern Oregon Daytona Beach Florida Mark Henninger 2016 December 17 2016 Saint Francis IN 38 17 Baker Daytona Beach Florida Kevin Donley 2017 December 16 2017 Saint Francis IN 24 13 Reinhardt Daytona Beach Florida Kevin Donley 2018 December 15 2018 Morningside 35 28 Benedictine Daytona Beach Florida Steve Ryan 2019 December 21 2019 Morningside 40 38 Marian IN Grambling Louisiana Steve Ryan 2020 d May 10 2021 Lindsey Wilson 45 13 Northwestern IA Grambling Louisiana Chris Oliver 2021 December 18 2021 Morningside 38 28 Grand View Durham North Carolina Steve Ryan 2022 December 17 2022 Northwestern IA 35 25 Keiser Durham North Carolina Matt McCarty 2023 December 18 2023 Keiser 31 21 Northwestern IA Durham North Carolina Doug Socha Not to be confused with the NCAA Division I bowl of the same name Not to be confused with the NCAA Division I bowl of the same name a b c d Game ended in a tie with both teams as co champions Game played in spring 2021 due to the COVID 19 pandemic Championships by school editSee also List of NAIA National Football Championship Series appearances by team NAIA Division II titles are not included in this list Programs that no longer compete in NAIA are indicated in italics with a pink background Team Championships Winning years Texas A amp I Texas A amp M Kingsville 7 1959 1969 1970 1974 1975 1976 1979 Carroll MT 6 2002 2003 2004 2005 2007 2010 Carson Newman 5 1983 1984 a 1986 1988 1989 Central Arkansas 3 1984 a 1985 a 1991 Central State OH 3 1990 1992 1995 Sioux Falls 3 2006 2008 2009 Morningside 3 2018 2019 2021 Pittsburg State 2 1957 1961 Saint John s MN 2 1963 1965 Abilene Christian 2 1973 1977 Elon 2 1980 1981 Central State OK Central Oklahoma 2 1962 1982 Northeastern State 2 1958 1994 Georgetown KY 2 2000 2001 Marian IN 2 2012 2015 Saint Francis IN 2 2016 2017 Montana State 1 1956 a Saint Joseph s IN 1 1956 a Lenoir Rhyne 1 1960 Concordia Moorhead 1 1964 a Sam Houston State 1 1964 a Waynesburg 1 1966 Fairmont State 1 1967 Troy State Troy 1 1968 Livingston West Alabama 1 1971 East Texas State Texas A amp M Commerce 1 1972 Angelo State 1 1978 Hillsdale 1 1985 a Cameron 1 1987 East Central OK 1 1993 Southwestern Oklahoma 1 1996 Findlay OH 1 1997 Azusa Pacific 1 1998 Northwestern Oklahoma 1 1999 Saint Xavier 1 2011 Grand View 1 2013 Southern Oregon 1 2014 Lindsey Wilson 1 2020 Northwestern IA 1 2022 Keiser 1 2023 a b c d e f g h Shared titleSee also editList of NAIA football programs List of NAIA National Football Championship Series appearances by team NAIA Division II Football National Championship NCAA Division I FCS Football Championship NCAA Division II Football Championship NCAA Division III Football ChampionshipReferences edit NAIA Football Championship History National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Retrieved April 7 2008 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title NAIA Football National Championship amp oldid 1212500646, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
