1975 NCAA Division II football season

1975 NCAA Division II football season
Regular season	August – November 1975
Postseason	December 1975
National Championship	Hughes Stadium Sacramento, CA
Champions	Northern Michigan
Division II football season «1974 1976»

The 1975 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level, began in August 1975, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship in December 1975 at Charles C. Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California.

Northern Michigan defeated the Western Kentucky in the championship game, 16-14, to win their first Division II national title.

Conference and program changes

• The South Atlantic Conference (SAC-8) was formed as a football-only conference by eight teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

School	1974 Conference	1975 Conference
Elon	Conference Carolinas (NAIA)	South Atlantic
Gardner–Webb	NAIA Independent	South Atlantic
Vermont	Yankee	Dropped Program

Conference standings

1975 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T SE Missouri State $ 6 – 0 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 NE Missouri State 4 – 2 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 NW Missouri State 3 – 3 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 SW Missouri State 3 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 1 Central Missouri State 2 – 4 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Missouri-Rolla 1 – 5 – 0     1 – 8 – 2 Lincoln (MO) 2 – 4 – 0     4 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – Division II playoff participant

1975 Yankee Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team   W   L         W   L   New Hampshire $   5 – 0         9 – 3   UMass   4 – 1         8 – 2   Connecticut   3 – 2         4 – 7   Boston University   2 – 3         5 – 6   Maine   1 – 4         4 – 6   Rhode Island   1 – 4         2 – 8   $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Conference summaries

See also: List of NCAA Division II football seasons

Conference Champions

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Norfolk State Far Western Football Conference – UC Davis Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Wayne State Gulf South Conference – Nicholls State Lone Star Conference – Texas A&I Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Southeast Missouri State North Central Conference – North Dakota Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota–Morris Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – East Stroudsburg Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – Western State South Atlantic Conference – Lenoir-Rhyne Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (Division II) – Bethune-Cookman Yankee Conference – New Hampshire

Postseason

1975 NCAA Division II National Football Championship playoffs
Teams	8
Finals Site	Charles C. Hughes Stadium Sacramento, California
Champions	Northern Michigan (1st title)
Runner-Up	Western Kentucky (2nd championship game)
Semifinalists	West Alabama New Hampshire

The 1975 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the third single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The championship game was held at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California for the third, and final, time. The Northern Michigan Wildcats defeated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, 16-14, to win their first national title. Of all current members of Division II, as of 2013, Northern Michigan was the first to win the playoff national championship.

Playoff bracket

	First round					Semifinals					Championship
	Northern Michigan		24
	Boise State		21
						Northern Michigan		28
						West Alabama		26
	West Alabama		34
	North Dakota		14
											Northern Michigan		16
											Western Kentucky		14
	Western Kentucky		14
	Northern Iowa		12
						Western Kentucky		14
						New Hampshire		3
	New Hampshire		35
	Lehigh		21

See also

• 1975 NAIA Division I football season
• 1975 NAIA Division II football season