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1978 NAIA Division I football season
Regular seasonAugust–November 1978
PostseasonDecember 2–16, 1978
National Championship McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium
McAllen, TX
Champions Angelo State

The 1978 NAIA Division I football season was the 23rd season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the ninth season of play of the NAIA's top division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1978 and culminated in the 1978 NAIA Division I Football National Championship. Known this year as the Palm Bowl, the title game was played on December 16, 1978 at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen, Texas. [1]

Angelo State defeated Elon in the Palm Bowl, 24–14, to win their first NAIA national title. [2]

Conference changes

Conference standings

1978 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Central Arkansas $^ 6 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
No. 16 Henderson State 4 – 1 – 1 7 – 2 – 1
No. 9 Ouachita Baptist 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Harding 3 – 2 – 1 5 – 4 – 1
Arkansas Tech 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Arkansas–Monticello 1 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Southern Arkansas 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1978 Central States Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 10 Kearney State $ 7 – 0 – 0 8 – 0 – 1
Missouri Southern 4 – 2 – 1 6 – 3 – 1
Fort Hays State 4 – 2 – 1 6 – 5 – 1
Missouri Western 4 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Wayne State (NE) 3 – 2 – 2 4 – 4 – 2
Emporia State 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Washburn 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
No. T–18 Pittsburg State* 0 – 7 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • * – Pittsburg State forfeited conference wins over Kearney State, Missouri Southern, Missouri Western, Wayne State (NE), Emporia State, and Washburn.
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1978 Evergreen Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 8 Oregon College $^ 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Eastern Washington 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Oregon Tech 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Eastern Oregon 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Southern Oregon 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Western Washington 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Central Washington 0 – 6 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
    Central Washington forfeited victories over Eastern Oregon, Oregon Tech, and Southern Oregon because of an inelgible player.
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1978 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Grand Valley State $^ 5 – 0 – 0 9 – 3 – 0
Wayne State (MI) 4 – 1 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Northwood 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Saginaw Valley State 1 – 3 – 1 4 – 5 – 1
Ferris State 1 – 3 – 1 3 – 5 – 2
Hillsdale 1 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1978 Lone Star Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Angelo State $^ 7 – 0 – 0 14 – 0 – 0
No. 11 Abilene Christian 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Sam Houston State 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
No. 20 Texas A&I 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Southwest Texas State 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Stephen F. Austin 3 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0
East Texas State 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Howard Payne 0 – 7 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1978 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Concordia–Moorhead * + 7 – 1 – 0 11 – 1 – 0
St. Olaf +^ 7 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
No. 15 Gustavus Adolphus 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
No. T–20 Saint John's (MN) 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
St. Thomas (MN) 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Hamline 3 – 4 – 1 5 – 4 – 1
Augsburg 2 – 5 – 1 3 – 6 – 1
Bethel (MN) 1 – 7 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
Macalester 0 – 8 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant
  • * – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1978 Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
East Central $ 4 – 0 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
NW Oklahoma State 3 – 1 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Northeastern State 1 – 2 – 1 6 – 3 – 1
SW Oklahoma State 1 – 2 – 1 2 – 6 – 1
SE Oklahoma State 0 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
1978 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
East Division
East Stroudsburg xy$ 5 – 0 – 0 10 – 1 – 0
Cheyney 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Bloomsburg 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Millersville 2 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Kutztown 1 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Mansfield 0 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
West Division
No. 17 Clarion xy 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0
Shippensburg x 5 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Slippery Rock 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Edinboro 3 – 3 – 0 3 – 6 – 1
Indiana (PA) 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 1
California (PA) 1 – 4 – 1 2 – 7 – 1
Lock Haven 0 – 5 – 1 1 – 8 – 1
Championship: East Stroudsburg 49, Clarion 4
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
  • Shippensburg was ineligible for conference title game.
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1978 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Western State (CO) $^ 8 – 0 – 0 10 – 1 – 0
Southern Utah 5 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Adams State 5 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Western New Mexico 5 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Fort Lewis 4 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Mesa 4 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Westminster (UT) 2 – 6 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Colorado Mines 2 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
New Mexico Highlands 1 – 7 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
Southern Colorado * 0 – 0 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
    * – ineligible for conference title
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1978 South Atlantic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Elon +^ 6 – 0 – 1 9 – 1 – 1
No. 13 Presbyterian + 6 – 0 – 1 8 – 2 – 1
No. T–18 Newberry 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Lenoir–Rhyne 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Mars Hill 2 – 5 – 0 5 – 7 – 0
Gardner–Webb 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 5 – 1
Catawba 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Carson–Newman 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1978 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Northern Division
Shepherd xy 6 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
West Virginia Wesleyan 6 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Fairmont State 5 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 1
Salem 4 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
West Liberty State 2 – 7 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
Southern Division
No. 6 Concord xy$^ 8 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
West Virginia Tech 6 – 3 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
West Virginia State 6 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0
Glenville State 1 – 7 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Bluefield State 0 – 9 – 0 0 – 10 – 0
Championship: Concord 35, Shepherd 14
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
    Conference standings based on power ratings
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1978 Wisconsin State University Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Wisconsin–La Crosse +^ 7 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
Wisconsin–Whitewater + 7 – 1 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
No. 12 Wisconsin–Eau Claire 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Wisconsin–Stout 5 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Wisconsin–Oshkosh 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Wisconsin–River Falls 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Wisconsin–Stevens Point 2 – 6 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Wisconsin–Platteville 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Wisconsin–Superior 1 – 7 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1978 NAIA Division I independents football records
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 15 Cameron   –   7 – 2 – 1
No. 14 Kentucky State   –   7 – 2 – 1
Guilford   –   5 – 4 – 0
Eastern New Mexico   –   5 – 6 – 0
Liberty Baptist   –   4 – 5 – 1
Langston   –   3 – 7 – 0
Wofford   –   3 – 8 – 0
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

Conference champions

Conference Champion Record
Arkansas Intercollegiate Central Arkansas 6–0
Central States Kearney State 7–0
Evergreen Oregon College 5–1
Great Lakes Grand Valley State 5–0
Lone Star Angelo State 7–0
NIC Minnesota–Morris 8–0
Oklahoma East Central State 4–0
PSAC Clarion State
Shippensburg State 		5–1
RMAC Western State 8–0
South Atlantic Elon
Presbyterian 		6–0–1
SWAC Grambling State 5–0–1
WVIAC North: Shepherd
South: Concord 		6–3
8–1
Wisconsin State Wisconsin–La Crosse
Wisconsin–Whitewater 		7–1
7–1

Postseason

Quarterfinals
December 2, 1978
Campus sites 		Semifinals
December 9, 1978
Campus sites 		1978 Palm Bowl
December 16, 1978
McAllen, TX
         
Grand Valley State 24
Wisconsin–La Crosse* 14
Grand Valley State 7
Elon* 13
Concord 6
Elon* 21
Elon 14
Angelo State 24
Western State 21
Central Arkansas* 17
Western State 3
Angelo State* 35
Oregon College 0
Angelo State* 32

See also

References

  1. ^ "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  2. ^ "1978 Division I NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  3. ^ "NAIA Football Regular Season Records" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 20–23. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
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