1973 NCAA Division II football season

1973 NCAA Division II football season
Regular season	August – November 1973
National Championship	Hughes Stadium Sacramento, California

The 1973 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level, began in August 1973, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship on December 16, 1978, at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California. In the first ever season of Division II football after these teams split away from the Division I Small College Division after the 1972 season.

Louisiana Tech won their first Division II championship, defeating Western Kentucky in the championship game by a final score of 34−0.

Conference changes and new programs

• The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference began football play in 1973.

School	1972 Conference	1973 Conference
Akron	Independent	D-II Independent
Eastern Michigan	Independent	D-II Independent
Illinois State	Independent	D-II Independent
Nevada–Reno	Independent	D-II Independent

Conference standings

1973 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T SE Missouri State $ 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 NW Missouri State 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Lincoln (MO) 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 SW Missouri State 3 – 3 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Missouri–Rolla 2 – 3 – 1 3 – 6 – 2 NE Missouri State 2 – 3 – 1 2 – 7 – 2 Central Missouri State 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion

1973 Southland Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 2 Louisiana Tech $^ 5 – 0 – 0 12 – 1 – 0 Arkansas State 3 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Lamar 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 McNeese State 2 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 1 UT Arlington 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 SW Louisiana 0 – 5 – 0 0 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from AP small college poll

1973 Yankee Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Connecticut $ 5 – 0 – 1 8 – 2 – 1 Rhode Island 4 – 1 – 1 6 – 2 – 2 UMass 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 New Hampshire 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 Boston University 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Maine 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Vermont 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion

Conference summaries

See also: List of NCAA Division II football seasons

Conference Champions

Big Sky Conference – Boise State Far Western Football Conference – UC Davis and Cal State Chico Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Northwood Gulf South Conference – Troy State Lone Star Conference – Abilene Christian Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference – North Carolina Central Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Southeast Missouri State North Central Conference – North Dakota State and South Dakota Ohio Valley Conference – Western Kentucky Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota State–Moorhead Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (Division II) – Bethune-Cookman Southland Conference – Louisiana Tech Southwestern Athletic Conference – Grambling State and Jackson State Yankee Conference – Connecticut

Postseason

The 1973 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the first single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The inaugural edition had only eight teams. The championship game was held at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California. The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs defeated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, 34-0, to win their first national title.

	First round					Semifinals					Championship
	Grambling State		17
	Delaware		8
						Grambling State		20
						Western Kentucky		28
	Western Kentucky		25
	Lehigh		16
											Western Kentucky		0
											Louisiana Tech		34
	Louisiana Tech		18
	Western Illinois		13
						Louisiana Tech		38
						Boise State		34
	Boise State		53
	South Dakota		10

See also

• 1973 NAIA Division I football season
• 1973 NAIA Division II football season