1979 NCAA Division II football season

1979 NCAA Division II football season
Regular season	August – November 1979
Playoffs	December 1979
National Championship	Zia Bowl University Stadium Albuquerque, NM
Champion	Delaware

The 1979 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 1979, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship in December 1979 at University Stadium in Albuquerque, NM. During the game's two-year stretch in New Mexico, it was referred to as the Zia Bowl. The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens defeated the Youngstown State Penguins, 38–21, to win their first Division II national title.

Conference changes and new programs

• One program upgraded to Division I-AA while one other downgraded back to Division II.

School	1978 Conference	1979 Conference
Bethune-Cookman	SIAC (II)	MEAC (I-AA)
Morgan State	MEAC (I-AA)	Independent
Nicholls State	Gulf South	Independent

Conference standings

1979 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 7 Cal Poly $ 2 – 0 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Cal State Northridge 1 – 1 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Cal Poly Pomona 0 – 2 – 0 0 – 11 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from NCAA Division II AP Poll	1979 Far Western Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T UC Davis $ 5 – 0 – 0 7 – 2 – 1 Humboldt State 4 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Chico State 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Sacramento State 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 San Francisco State 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Cal State Hayward 1 – 4 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion Adjusted for Cal Poly Pomona forfeits to UC Davis and Sacramento State	1979 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 8 Saginaw Valley State $^ 4 – 0 – 1 8 – 2 – 1 Wayne State (MI) 3 – 1 – 1 3 – 5 – 1 Ferris State 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 1 Grand Valley State 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 Northwood 1 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Hillsdale 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll
1979 Heartland Collegiate Conference standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Saint Joseph's (IN) $ 4 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Franklin (IN) 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Butler 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Valparaiso 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 Indiana Central 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 Evansville 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 Georgetown (KY) * 3 – 0 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Ashland * 0 – 1 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion * – ineligible for conference title	1979 Association of Mid-Continent Universities football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 2 Youngstown State $^ 5 – 0 – 0 11 – 2 – 0 Northern Iowa 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Akron 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Eastern Illinois 1 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Northern Michigan 1 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Western Illinois 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II AP Poll	1979 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T NW Missouri State $ 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 SE Missouri State 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 4 – 1 Missouri-Rolla 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 1 SW Missouri State 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 NE Missouri State 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Central Missouri State 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Lincoln (MO) 1 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant
1979 NCAA Division II independents football records Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 Delaware ^   –   13 – 1 – 0 Towson State   –   9 – 1 – 0 No. 4 Morgan State ^   –   9 – 2 – 0 Eastern Washington   –   7 – 2 – 0 Nicholls State   –   8 – 3 – 0 United States International   –   8 – 3 – 0 American International   –   6 – 3 – 0 No. 10 Santa Clara   –   6 – 3 – 0 Kentucky State   –   6 – 5 – 0 Central State (OH)   –   5 – 5 – 0 Central Connecticut   –   4 – 5 – 0 James Madison   –   4 – 5 – 0 West Chester   –   4 – 7 – 0 Southern Connecticut State   –   3 – 7 – 0 Arkansas–Pine Bluff   –   2 – 8 – 0 ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from Associated Press poll

Conference summaries

See also: List of NCAA Division II football seasons

Conference Champions

Association of Mid-Continent Universities – Youngstown State Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Virginia Union Far Western Football Conference – UC Davis Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Saginaw Valley State Gulf South Conference – Mississippi College Lone Star Conference – Texas A&I Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Northwest Missouri State North Central Conference – North Dakota Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota–Duluth and Minnesota State–Moorhead Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – Lock Haven Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – Western State South Atlantic Conference – Presbyterian Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Alabama A&M

Postseason

1979 NCAA Division II Football Championship
Teams	8
Finals Site	University Stadium Albuquerque, NM
Champion	Delaware (1st title, 3rd title game)
Runner-up	Youngstown State (1st title game)
Semifinalists	Mississippi College Alabama A&M
Winning coach	Tubby Raymond 1st championship

The 1979 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the sixth single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The championship game was held at University Stadium in Albuquerque, NM for the first time. With the game being played in New Mexico for the next two years, it was deemed the Zia Bowl.

Playoff bracket

	First round Campus sites					Semifinals Campus sites					Championship University Stadium Albuquerque, NM
	Delaware		58
	Virginia Union		28
						Delaware		60
						Mississippi College		10
	Mississippi College		35
	North Dakota		15
											Delaware		38
											Youngstown State		21
	Youngstown State		51
	South Dakota State		7
						Youngstown State		52
						Alabama A&M		0
	Alabama A&M		27
	Morgan State		7

See also

• 1979 NAIA Division I football season
• 1979 NAIA Division II football season