The championship game was the
Camellia Bowl, 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 2015, Northern Michigan was the first to win the playoff national championship. They went from winless (0–10) in 1974 to 13–1 and national champions in 1975,[2] led by sophomore quarterback
Steve Mariucci,[6] later a head coach in the
NFL for nine seasons.