The 1981 NAIA Division I football season was the 26th season of
college football sponsored by the
NAIA, was the 12th season of play of the NAIA's top division for football.
Defending national champion
Elon defeated
Pittsburg State in the Champion Bowl, 3–0, to win their second NAIA national title.[2]
Conference changes
This is the final season the NAIA officially recognizes a football champion from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Lone Star Conference.[3] Both the GLIAC and the Lone Star became an
NCAADivision II conferences, where both continue to sponsor football (with the exception of a ten-year hiatus for the GLIAC between 1989 and 1999).