1986 NCAA Division III football season

1986 NCAA Division III football season
Regular season	August – November 1986
Playoffs	November – December 1986
National championship	Garrett-Harrison Stadium Phenix City, AL
Champions	Augustana (IL) Vikings
Division III football seasons « 1985 1987 »

The 1986 NCAA Division III football season, part of the college football season organized by the NCAA at the Division III level in the United States, began in August 1986, and concluded with the NCAA Division III Football Championship, also known as the Stagg Bowl, in December 1986 at Garrett-Harrison Stadium in Phenix City, Alabama. The Augustana (IL) Vikings won the fourth of their four consecutive Division III championships by defeating the Salisbury State Sea Gulls by a final score of 31−3.

Conference champions

See also: List of NCAA Division III football seasons

Conference champions

Centennial Conference – Franklin & Marshall and Muhlenberg College Athletic Conference – Rose–Hulman College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin – Augustana (IL) Independent College Athletic Conference – Ithaca Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Central (IA) Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Hope Middle Atlantic Conference – Susquehanna Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference – Lawrence Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Concordia–Moorhead New England Football Conference – Plymouth State New Jersey State Athletic Conference – Montclair State North Coast Athletic Conference – Denison Ohio Athletic Conference – Mount Union Old Dominion Athletic Conference – Emory & Henry Presidents' Athletic Conference – Washington & Jefferson Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Claremont–Mudd–Scripps Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Tarleton State Upper Midwest Athletic Conference – Northwestern–St. Paul Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Wisconsin–La Crosse, Wisconsin–River Falls, and Wisconsin–Stevens Point

Postseason

The 1986 NCAA Division III Football Championship playoffs were the 14th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division III college football. The championship Stagg Bowl game was held at Garrett-Harrison Stadium in Phenix City, Alabama for the twelfth time and for the second consecutive year. Like the previous tournament, this year's bracket featured sixteen teams.

Playoff bracket

	First Round Campus Sites					Quarterfinals Campus Sites					Semifinals Campus Sites					National Championship Game Garrett-Harrison Stadium Phenix City, Alabama
	Ithaca (OT)		24
	Union (NY)		17
						Ithaca		29
						Montclair State		15
	Montclair State		24
	Hofstra		21
											Ithaca		40
											Salisbury State		44
	Susquehanna		35
	Washington & Jefferson		22
						Susquehanna		17
						Salisbury State		31
	Salisbury State		14
	Emory & Henry		10
																Salisbury State		3
																Augustana (IL)		31
	Mount Union		26
	Dayton		10
						Mount Union		7
						Augustana (IL)		16
	Augustana (IL)		35
	Hope		3
											Augustana (IL)		41
											Concordia–Moorhead		7
	Central (IA)		27
	Buena Vista		7
						Central (IA)		14
						Concordia–Moorhead		17
	Concordia–Moorhead		28
	Wisconsin–Stevens Point		10

See also

• 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season
• 1986 NCAA Division I-AA football season
• 1986 NCAA Division II football season