1973 NCAA Division II football season

Regular season

August – November 1973

Postseason

National Championship

Hughes Stadium
Sacramento, California

Champions

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

Division II football season

«1972

1974»

The 1973 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 1973, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship on December 16, 1978, at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California. In the first ever season of Division II football after these teams split away from the Division I Small College Division after the 1972 season.

Louisiana Tech won their first Division II championship, defeating Western Kentucky in the championship game by a final score of 34−0.^[1]

Conference changes and new programs

The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference began football play in 1973.

School	1972 Conference	1973 Conference
Akron	Independent	D-II Independent
Eastern Michigan	Independent	D-II Independent
Illinois State	Independent	D-II Independent
Nevada–Reno	Independent	D-II Independent

Conference standings

1973 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
SE Missouri State $	5	–	1	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
NW Missouri State	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Lincoln (MO)	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
SW Missouri State	3	–	3	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Missouri-Rolla	2	–	3	–	1	3	–	6	–	2
NE Missouri State	2	–	3	–	1	2	–	7	–	2
Central Missouri State	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – Division II playoff participant

1973 Southland Conference football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Louisiana Tech $^	5	–	0	–	0	12	–	1	–	0
Arkansas State	3	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Lamar	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
McNeese State	2	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Texas–Arlington	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
SW Louisiana	0	–	5	–	0	0	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – Division II playoff participant

1973 Yankee Conference football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Connecticut $	5	–	0	–	1	8	–	2	–	1
Rhode Island	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	2	–	2
UMass	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
New Hampshire	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Boston University	2	–	3	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Maine	2	–	4	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Vermont	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	6	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – Division II playoff participant Rankings from AP Poll

Conference summaries

Conference Champions
Big Sky Conference – Boise State Far Western Football Conference – UC Davis and Cal State Chico Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Northwood Gulf South Conference – Troy State Lone Star Conference – Abilene Christian Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina Central Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Southeast Missouri State North Central Conference – North Dakota State and South Dakota Ohio Valley Conference – Western Kentucky Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota State–Moorhead Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (Division II) – Bethune-Cookman Southland Conference – Louisiana Tech Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State and Jackson State Yankee Conference – Connecticut

Postseason

The 1973 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the first single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The inaugural edition had only eight teams. The championship game was held at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California. The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs defeated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, 34-0, to win their first national title.^[2]

First round		Semifinals		Championship


Grambling State	17

Delaware	8
		Grambling State	20

		Western Kentucky	28
Western Kentucky	25

Lehigh	16
				Western Kentucky	0

				Louisiana Tech	34
Louisiana Tech	18

Western Illinois	13
		Louisiana Tech	38

		Boise State	34
Boise State	53

South Dakota	10

References

↑ "All-Time Conference Champions" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. pp. 15–28. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
↑ "1973 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. Retrieved December 17, 2013.

NCAA Division II football

Seasons

Playoffs

Championship games

Bowl era	East: Tangerine Bowl (1964–1967), Boardwalk Bowl (1968–1972) Mideast: Grantland Rice Bowl (1964–1972) Midwest: Pecan Bowl (1964–1970), Pioneer Bowl (1971–1972) West: Camellia Bowl (1964–1967)

Playoff era	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Records & statistics

Appearances
Individual records
Team records

NCAA football seasons

Pre-regulation	1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905

IAAUS/NCAA	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955

NCAA University Division/ Division I	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977

NCAA Division I-A/FBS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

NCAA Division I-AA/FCS	1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

NCAA Division II	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

NCAA Division III	1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

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