1987 NAIA Division II Football National Championship

1987 NAIA Division II football season
Regular season	August–November 1987
Postseason	November–December 1987
National Championship	Tacoma Dome Tacoma, WA
Champions	Pacific Lutheran (2) Wisconsin–Stevens Point (forfeited)

The 1987 NAIA Division II football season, as part of the 1987 college football season in the United States and the 32nd season of college football sponsored by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), was the 18th season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1987 and culminated in the 1987 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played at the Tacoma Dome near the campus of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.^[1] Pacific Lutheran and Wisconsin–Stevens Point played to a tie, 16–16, and were declared co-national champions. It was Pacific Lutheran's second NAIA national title and Wisconsin–Stevens Point's first. However, the Pointers later forfeited their shared of title after it was discovered they had been used two ineligible players during the season.^[2]

Conference realignment

Conference changes

This was the first season for the Mid-South Conference.^[3]

Conference standings

1987 Columbia Football League standings
	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Northern Division
No. 8 Central Washington * x	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
No. 6 Pacific Lutheran ^	4	–	1	–	1	11	–	1	–	1
No. 17 Puget Sound	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Simon Fraser	4	–	2	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Western Washington	2	–	3	–	1	4	–	3	–	2
Whitworth	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Lewis & Clark	0	–	6	–	0	0	–	9	–	0
Southern Division
Oregon Tech x	5	–	1	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
No. 15 Southern Oregon *	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Linfield	4	–	2	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Pacific (OR)	3	–	2	–	1	4	–	3	–	2
Western Oregon	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Willamette	1	–	4	–	1	3	–	5	–	1
Eastern Oregon	0	–	6	–	0	1	–	8	–	0

x – Division champion/co-champions * – NAIA Division I playoff participant ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll for Central Washington, Puget Sound, and Southern Oregon and NAIA Division II poll for Pacific Lutheran

1987 Frontier Conference football standings
	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 Carroll (MT) $^	5	–	0	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Montana Tech	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Rocky Mountain	0	–	4	–	0	2	–	6	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1987 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings
	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Baker $^	6	–	0	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
No. 21 Missouri Valley	4	–	1	–	1	6	–	3	–	1
William Jewell	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Tarkio	2	–	2	–	2	2	–	6	–	2
Culver–Stockton	1	–	3	–	2	3	–	5	–	2
Graceland	1	–	4	–	1	2	–	6	–	1
MidAmerica Nazarene	1	–	5	–	0	1	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1987 Illini–Badger Football Conference standings
	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Concordia (IL) $	5	–	0	–	0	7	–	2	–	0
Concordia (WI)	4	–	1	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Lakeland	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Northeastern Illinois	2	–	3	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Eureka	1	–	4	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Principia	0	–	5	–	0	0	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion

1987 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 8 Bethany (KS) +^	8	–	1	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
No. 17 Southwestern (KS) +^	8	–	1	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Kansas Wesleyan	7	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Sterling	6	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Friends	5	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
St. Mary of the Plains	3	–	6	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Bethel (KS)	3	–	6	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Ottawa	3	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
McPherson	1	–	8	–	0	1	–	8	–	0
Tabor	1	–	8	–	0	1	–	8	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1987 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 16 Midland $^	4	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
No. 14 Dana ^	3	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Nebraska Wesleyan	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Doane	2	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Hastings	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Concordia (NE)	1	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1987 North Dakota College Athletic Conference football standings
	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 Dickinson State $^	5	–	0	–	0	9	–	1	–	0
No. 19 Valley City State	4	–	1	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Minot State	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Jamestown	2	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
NDSCS–Wahpeton	1	–	4	–	0	4	–	4	–	0
Mayville State	0	–	5	–	0	1	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1987 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings
	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Dakota Wesleyan +	4	–	1	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Black Hills State +	4	–	1	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Huron	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
South Dakota Tech	2	–	3	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Sioux Falls	2	–	3	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Dakota State	0	–	5	–	0	0	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion

1987 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Tarleton State $^	6	–	0	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Sul Ross	2	–	2	–	2	5	–	2	–	2
McMurry	1	–	3	–	2	3	–	5	–	2
Austin	0	–	4	–	2	2	–	5	–	3
Howard Payne	0	–	0	–	0	5	–	5	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant

1987 Wisconsin State University Conference football standings
	Conf.					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Wisconsin–Whitewater +	6	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	1
No. 25 Wisconsin–River Falls +	6	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
No. 24 Wisconsin–Eau Claire	5	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Wisconsin–La Crosse	5	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Wisconsin–Stout	5	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Wisconsin–Platteville	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Wisconsin–Oshkosh	3	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Wisconsin–Superior	2	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
No. 4 Wisconsin–Stevens Point ^	0	–	8	–	0	0	–	15	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Wisconsin–Stevens Point finished the season with an overall record of 12–2–1 and a conference mark of 7–1, winning the WSUC title and advancing to the NAIA Division II Football National Championship playoffs, where they tied Pacific Lutheran in the title game, sharing the NAIA Division II title. In May 1988, Stevens Point forfeited its 12 wins, the one tie, and the conference and NAIA titles because of the use of two ineligible players. Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

1987 NAIA Division II independents football records
	Conf.			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 3 St. Ambrose ^		–		11	–	0	–	1
No. 15 Geneva ^		–		11	–	2	–	0
No. 12 Westmar ^		–		9	–	2	–	0
No. 7 Westminster (PA) ^		–		9	–	2	–	0
No. 10 Bluffton ^		–		8	–	2	–	0
No. 13 St. Francis (IL) ^		–		8	–	3	–	0
Findlay		–		5	–	4	–	0
Waynesburg		–		5	–	4	–	0
Wilmington (OH)		–		5	–	4	–	0
Evangel		–		5	–	4	–	1
Peru State		–		5	–	5	–	0
Benedictine (KS)		–		4	–	7	–	0
Iowa Wesleyan		–		4	–	7	–	0
Northwestern (IA)		–		3	–	7	–	0
Oklahoma Panhandle State		–		2	–	7	–	0
Franklin (IN)		–		2	–	8	–	0
Azusa Pacific		–		2	–	8	–	0
Texas Lutheran		–		2	–	8	–	0
Chadron State		–		1	–	8	–	0
Tiffin		–		1	–	9	–	0

^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

Conference champions

Conference	Champion	Record
Columbia	Mount Rainier Division: Central Washington Mount Hood Division: Oregon Tech	5–1 5–1
Frontier	Carroll (MT)	8–2
Heart of America	Baker	6–0
Illini–Badger	Concordia (IL)	5–0
Kansas	Bethany Southwestern (KS)	8–1
Mid-South	Georgetown (KY)	8–3
Nebraska	Midland	4–1
North Dakota	Dickinson State	5–0
South Dakota	Black Hills State	4–1
Texas	Tarleton State	6–0
WSUC	Wisconsin–River Falls Wisconsin–Whitewater	6–2

Postseason

First Round Campus sites		Quarterfinals Campus sites		Semifinals Campus sites		Championship Tacoma, WA

Westminster (PA)	24

Georgetown (KY) ‡	17
		Westminster (PA)*	15

		Geneva	16
Bluffton	13

Geneva*	16
				Geneva	25

				Wisconsin–Stevens Point*	48
Westmar	24

Wisconsin–Stevens Point*	50
		Wisconsin–Stevens Point	30

		Saint Ambrose*	14
Saint Ambrose	21

St. Francis (IL)*	3
						Wisconsin–Stevens Point	16

						Pacific Lutheran*	16
Bethany	26

Tarleton State*	38
		Tarleton State*	12

		Baker	13
Dana	35

Baker ‡‡	37
				Baker	14

				Pacific Lutheran* (OT)	17
Dickinson State	21

Carroll (MT)* (OT)	28
		Carroll (MT)*	26

		Pacific Lutheran	36
Midland	21

Pacific Lutheran*	40

‡ Game played at Lexington, Kentucky
‡‡ Game played at Lawrence, Kansas

References

"NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
"Surprise: Lutes are champs after all". The News Tribune. Tacoma, Washington. May 10, 1988. p. C1. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com .
"NAIA Football Regular Season Records" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 20–23. Retrieved December 11, 2021.