NAIA Football National Championship

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NAIA Football National Championship
In operation1956–present
Preceded bySmall college polls &
NAIA Division II Championship
Number of playoff teams20
Championship trophyTom Osborne Trophy
Television partner(s)ESPN3
Most playoff championshipsTexas A&M-Kingsville (7)
Current championKeiser (2023)
WebsiteNAIA Football

The NAIA Football National Championship is decided by a post-season playoff system featuring the best National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) college football teams in the United States. Under sponsorship of the NAIA, the championship game has been played annually since 1956.[1]

In 1970, NAIA football was divided into two divisions based on enrollment, Division I and Division II, with a championship game played in each division. In 1997, NAIA football was again consolidated back into one division. NAIA schools are allowed to offer 24 full varsity football scholarships which can be divided up as they wish. Junior varsity scholarship players do not count towards the total.

Texas A&I (now known as Texas A&M–Kingsville) is still the most prolific program with seven NAIA championships, despite having been in NCAA Division II since 1980. Carroll College of Montana is the most successful team still playing at the NAIA level, with six national titles.

Keiser is the current champion, having defeated the Northwestern Red Raiders in the 2023 title game, 31–21.

Game name[edit]

Over the years, the NAIA championship games were played under a variety of names:

  • Aluminum Bowl (1956)
  • Holiday Bowl (1957–1960)[a]
  • Camellia Bowl (1961–1963)[b]
  • Champion Bowl (1964–1976 and 1980–1996, Division I games only)
  • Apple Bowl (1977, Division I game only)
  • Palm Bowl (1978–1979, Division I games only)

Results[edit]

Season Date Champion Score Runner-up Location Winning
head coach(es)
1956 December 22, 1956 Montana State
Saint Joseph's (IN)		 0–0[c] Little Rock, Arkansas Tony Storti
Bob Jauron
1957 December 21, 1957 Pittsburg State 27–26 Hillsdale Saint Petersburg, Florida Carnie Smith
1958 December 20, 1958 Northeastern State 19–13 Arizona State–Flagstaff Saint Petersburg, Florida Harold "Tuffy" Stratton
1959 December 19, 1959 Texas A&I 20–7 Lenoir–Rhyne Saint Petersburg, Florida Gil Steinke
1960 December 17, 1960 Lenoir–Rhyne 15–14 Humboldt State Saint Petersburg, Florida Clarence Stasavich
1961 December 9, 1961 Pittsburg State 12–7 Linfield Sacramento, California Carnie Smith
1962 December 8, 1962 Central State (OK) 28–13 Lenoir–Rhyne Sacramento, California Al Blevins
1963 December 14, 1963 Saint John's (MN) 33–27 Prairie View A&M Sacramento, California John Gagliardi
1964 December 12, 1964 Concordia (MN)
Sam Houston State		 7–7[c] Augusta, Georgia Jake Christiansen
Paul Pierce
1965 December 11, 1965 Saint John's (MN) 33–0 Linfield Augusta, Georgia John Gagliardi
1966 December 10, 1966 Waynesburg 42–21 Wisconsin–Whitewater Tulsa, Oklahoma Carl DePasqua
1967 December 9, 1967 Fairmont State 28–21 Eastern Washington Morgantown, West Virginia Harold "Deacon" Duvall
1968 December 14, 1968 Troy State 43–35 Texas A&I Montgomery, Alabama Billy Atkins
1969 December 13, 1969 Texas A&I 32–7 Concordia (MN) Kingsville, Texas Gil Steinke
1970 December 12, 1970 Texas A&I 48–7 Wofford Greenville, South Carolina Gil Steinke
1971 December 11, 1971 Livingston 14–12 Arkansas Tech Birmingham, Alabama Mickey Andrews
1972 December 9, 1972 East Texas State 21–18 Carson–Newman Commerce, Texas Ernest Hawkins
1973 December 8, 1973 Abilene Christian 42–14 Elon Shreveport, Louisiana Wally Bullington
1974 December 14, 1974 Texas A&I 34–23 Henderson State Kingsville, Texas Gil Steinke
1975 December 13, 1975 Texas A&I 37–0 Salem Kingsville, Texas Gil Steinke
1976 December 11, 1976 Texas A&I 26–0 Central Arkansas Kingsville, Texas Gil Steinke
1977 December 10, 1977 Abilene Christian 24–7 Southwestern Oklahoma State Seattle, Washington DeWitt Jones
1978 December 16, 1978 Angelo State 34–14 Elon McAllen, Texas Jim Hess
1979 December 15, 1979 Texas A&I 20–14 Central State (OK) McAllen, Texas Ron Harms
1980 December 20, 1980 Elon 17–10 Northeastern State Burlington, North Carolina Jerry Tolley
1981 December 19, 1981 Elon 3–0 Pittsburg State Burlington, North Carolina Jerry Tolley
1982 December 18, 1982 Central State (OK) 14–11 Mesa State Edmond, Oklahoma Gary Howard
1983 December 17, 1983 Carson–Newman 36–28 Mesa State Grand Junction, Colorado Ken Sparks
1984 December 15, 1984 Carson–Newman
Central Arkansas		 19–19[c] Conway, Arkansas Ken Sparks
Harold Horton
1985 December 21, 1985 Hillsdale
Central Arkansas		 10–10[c] Conway, Arkansas Dick Lowry
Harold Horton
1986 December 20, 1986 Carson–Newman 17–0 Cameron Jefferson City, Tennessee Ken Sparks
1987 December 19, 1987 Cameron 30–2 Carson–Newman Lawton, Oklahoma Brian Naber
1988 December 17, 1988 Carson–Newman 56–21 Adams State Jefferson City, Tennessee Ken Sparks
1989 December 16, 1989 Carson–Newman 34–20 Emporia State Jefferson City, Tennessee Ken Sparks
1990 December 8, 1990 Central State (OH) 38–16 Mesa State Grand Junction, Colorado Billy Joe
1991 December 14, 1991 Central Arkansas 19–16 Central State (OH) Wilberforce, Ohio Mike Isom
1992 December 12, 1992 Central State (OH) 19–16 Gardner–Webb Boiling Springs, North Carolina Billy Joe
1993 December 11, 1993 East Central 49–35 Glenville State Ada, Oklahoma Hank Walbrick
1994 December 10, 1994 Northeastern State 13–12 Arkansas–Pine Bluff Pine Bluff, Arkansas Tom Eckert
1995 December 2, 1995 Central State (OH) 37–7 Northeastern State Tahlequah, Oklahoma Rick Comegy
1996 December 7, 1996 Southwestern Oklahoma State 33–31 Montana Tech Weatherford, Oklahoma Paul Sharp
1997 December 20, 1997 Findlay 14–7 Willamette Savannah, Tennessee Dick Strahm
1998 December 19, 1998 Azusa Pacific 17–14 Olivet Nazarene Savannah, Tennessee Vic Shealy
1999 December 18, 1999 Northwestern Oklahoma State 34–26 Georgetown (KY) Savannah, Tennessee Tim Albin
2000 December 16, 2000 Georgetown (KY) 20–0 Northwestern Oklahoma State Savannah, Tennessee Bill Cronin
2001 December 15, 2001 Georgetown (KY) 49–27 Sioux Falls Savannah, Tennessee Bill Cronin
2002 December 21, 2002 Carroll (MT) 28–7 Georgetown (KY) Savannah, Tennessee Mike Van Diest
2003 December 20, 2003 Carroll (MT) 41–28 Northwestern Oklahoma State Savannah, Tennessee Mike Van Diest
2004 December 18, 2004 Carroll (MT) 15–13 (2 OT) Saint Francis (IN) Savannah, Tennessee Mike Van Diest
2005 December 17, 2005 Carroll (MT) 27–10 Saint Francis (IN) Savannah, Tennessee Mike Van Diest
2006 December 16, 2006 Sioux Falls 23–19 Saint Francis (IN) Savannah, Tennessee Kalen DeBoer
2007 December 15, 2007 Carroll (MT) 17–9 Sioux Falls Savannah, Tennessee Mike Van Diest
2008 December 20, 2008 Sioux Falls 23–7 Carroll (MT) Rome, Georgia Kalen DeBoer
2009 December 19, 2009 Sioux Falls 25–22 Lindenwood Rome, Georgia Kalen DeBoer
2010 December 18, 2010 Carroll (MT) 10–7 Sioux Falls Rome, Georgia Mike Van Diest
2011 December 17, 2011 Saint Xavier 24–20 Carroll (MT) Rome, Georgia Mike Feminis
2012 December 13, 2012 Marian (IN) 30–27 (OT) Morningside Rome, Georgia Ted Karras Jr.
2013 December 21, 2013 Grand View 35–23 Cumberlands (KY) Rome, Georgia Mike Woodley
2014 December 19, 2014 Southern Oregon 55–31 Marian (IN) Daytona Beach, Florida Craig Howard
2015 December 19, 2015 Marian (IN) 31–14 Southern Oregon Daytona Beach, Florida Mark Henninger
2016 December 17, 2016 Saint Francis (IN) 38–17 Baker Daytona Beach, Florida Kevin Donley
2017 December 16, 2017 Saint Francis (IN) 24–13 Reinhardt Daytona Beach, Florida Kevin Donley
2018 December 15, 2018 Morningside 35–28 Benedictine Daytona Beach, Florida Steve Ryan
2019 December 21, 2019 Morningside 40–38 Marian (IN) Grambling, Louisiana Steve Ryan
2020[d] May 10, 2021 Lindsey Wilson 45–13 Northwestern (IA) Grambling, Louisiana Chris Oliver
2021 December 18, 2021 Morningside 38–28 Grand View Durham, North Carolina Steve Ryan
2022 December 17, 2022 Northwestern (IA) 35–25 Keiser Durham, North Carolina Matt McCarty
2023 December 18, 2023 Keiser 31–21 Northwestern (IA) Durham, North Carolina Doug Socha
  1. ^ Not to be confused with the NCAA Division I bowl of the same name.
  2. ^ Not to be confused with the NCAA Division I bowl of the same name.
  3. ^ a b c d Game ended in a tie with both teams as co-champions.
  4. ^ Game played in spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Championships by school[edit]

See also: List of NAIA National Football Championship Series appearances by team
  • Programs that no longer compete in NAIA are indicated in italics with a pink background.
Team Championships Winning years
Texas A&I (Texas A&M–Kingsville) 7 1959, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979
Carroll (MT) 6 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010
Carson–Newman 5 1983, 1984,[a] 1986, 1988, 1989
Central Arkansas 3 1984,[a] 1985,[a] 1991
Central State (OH) 3 1990, 1992, 1995
Sioux Falls 3 2006, 2008, 2009
Morningside 3 2018, 2019, 2021
Pittsburg State 2 1957, 1961
Saint John's (MN) 2 1963, 1965
Abilene Christian 2 1973, 1977
Elon 2 1980, 1981
Central State (OK) (Central Oklahoma) 2 1962, 1982
Northeastern State 2 1958, 1994
Georgetown (KY) 2 2000, 2001
Marian (IN) 2 2012, 2015
Saint Francis (IN) 2 2016, 2017
Montana State 1 1956[a]
Saint Joseph's (IN) 1 1956[a]
Lenoir–Rhyne 1 1960
Concordia–Moorhead 1 1964[a]
Sam Houston State 1 1964[a]
Waynesburg 1 1966
Fairmont State 1 1967
Troy State (Troy) 1 1968
Livingston (West Alabama) 1 1971
East Texas State (Texas A&M–Commerce) 1 1972
Angelo State 1 1978
Hillsdale 1 1985[a]
Cameron 1 1987
East Central (OK) 1 1993
Southwestern Oklahoma 1 1996
Findlay (OH) 1 1997
Azusa Pacific 1 1998
Northwestern Oklahoma 1 1999
Saint Xavier 1 2011
Grand View 1 2013
Southern Oregon 1 2014
Lindsey Wilson 1 2020
Northwestern (IA) 1 2022
Keiser 1 2023
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Shared title

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "NAIA Football Championship History". National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved April 7, 2008.
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