1981 NCAA Division II football season

1981 NCAA Division II football season
Regular season	August – November 1981
Playoffs	December 1981
National Championship	Palm Bowl Veterans Stadium McAllen, TX
Champion	Southwest Texas State

The 1981 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 1981, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship on December 12, 1981, at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen, Texas. During the game's five-year stretch in McAllen, the "City of Palms", it was referred to as the Palm Bowl.

Southwest Texas State defeated North Dakota State in the championship game, 42–13, to win their first Division II national title.

Conference realignment

Conference changes

• Prior to the 1981 season, the Mid-Continent Conference was shifted from Division II to Division I-AA; its four members, Eastern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Western Illinois, and Southwest Missouri State (now Missouri State), all made the transition. Northern Michigan and Youngstown State, who had been members of the Mid-Continent the previous season, departed the league before the shift. NMU remained in Division II while YSU departed for the Ohio Valley Conference in Division I-AA.

Membership changes

School	1980 Conference	1981 Conference
Eastern Washington	Evergreen (NAIA)	D-II Independent
Liberty	NAIA Independent	D-II Independent
Mankato State	Northern	North Central
Northern Michigan	Mid-Continent	D-II Independent
Portland State	I-AA Independent	D-II Independent
Southwest Missouri State	MIAA	Mid-Continent (I-AA)
St. Cloud State	Northern	North Central
Youngstown State	Mid-Continent (D-II)	Ohio Valley (I-AA)

Conference standings

1981 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T CalState Northridge $ 2 – 0 – 0 6 – 4 – 1 Cal Poly Pomona 1 – 1 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Cal Poly 0 – 2 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1981 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Northern No. 2 Virginia Union xy$^ 7 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0 Elizabeth City State ^ 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 No. 10 Hampton 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Norfolk State 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 1 Virginia State 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Saint Paul's (VA) 0 – 7 – 0 0 – 10 – 0 Southern North Carolina Central xy 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Winston-Salem State 4 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Johnson C. Smith 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Fayetteville State 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 5 – 0 Livingstone 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Bowie State * 2 – 5 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Championship: Virginia Union 45, North Carolina Central 7 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant * – ineligible for conference title Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll for Virginia Union and NAIA Division I poll for Hampton	1981 Far Western Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T UC Davis + 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Cal State Hayward + 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 4 – 1 Humboldt State 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Chico State 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Sacramento State 1 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 San Francisco State 0 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 + – Conference co-champions
1981 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Grand Valley State $ 6 – 0 – 0 7 – 2 – 0 No. 3 Hillsdale ^ 5 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0 Ferris State 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 4 – 0 Wayne State (MI) 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 Northwood 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Saginaw Valley State 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Michigan Tech 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll	1981 Gulf South Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 5 Jacksonville State $^ 6 – 0 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 No. T–10 North Alabama 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Livingston 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0 Mississippi College 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Tennessee–Martin 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Troy State 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Delta State 0 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll	1981 Heartland Collegiate Conference standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Franklin (IN) + 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Indiana Central + 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Saint Joseph's (IN) 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0 Ashland 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Butler 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Evansville 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Georgetown (KY) 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 9 – 0 Valparaiso 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 9 – 0 + – Conference co-champions
1981 Lone Star Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 4 Southwest Texas State $^ 6 – 1 – 0 13 – 1 – 0 No. 9 Texas A&I 5 – 2 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 Abilene Christian 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Angelo State 5 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 No. 17 East Texas State 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Sam Houston State 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Howard Payne 1 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 Stephen F. Austin 0 – 7 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll for Southwest Texas State and Texas A&I and NAIA Division I poll for East Texas State	1981 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T NE Missouri State $ 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Missouri-Rolla 3 – 1 – 1 6 – 3 – 1 NW Missouri State 3 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Central Missouri State 2 – 2 – 1 4 – 4 – 3 SE Missouri State 2 – 3 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 Lincoln (MO) 0 – 5 – 0 0 – 11 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant	1981 North Central Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 6 North Dakota State $^ 7 – 0 – 0 10 – 3 – 0 North Dakota 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Northern Colorado 4 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 South Dakota * 3 – 3 – 1 5 – 6 – 0 Nebraska–Omaha 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 South Dakota State * 2 – 4 – 1 4 – 6 – 0 Morningside 2 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Augustana (SD) 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 7 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant * – South Dakota and South Dakota State split two head-to-head games, which counted as a tie for each team in the conference standings. Rankings from AP Poll
1981 Northern Intercollegiate Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 Moorhead State $* 6 – 0 – 0 10 – 1 – 1 Minnesota Duluth 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 1 – 0 Minnesota Morris ^ 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 1 Southwest State (MN) 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Northern State 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Winona State 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 9 – 0 Bemidji State 0 – 6 – 0 0 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant * – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll	1981 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T East Division Millersville xy 5 – 0 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Kutztown 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0 East Stroudsburg 3 – 2 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Mansfield 3 – 2 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Cheyney 1 – 4 – 0 2 – 8 – 0 Bloomsburg 0 – 5 – 0 0 – 10 – 0 West Division No. 8 Shippensburg xy$^ 6 – 0 – 0 12 – 1 – 0 California (PA) 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0 Clarion 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Lock Haven 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 0 Indiana (PA) 2 – 4 – 0 4 – 6 – 0 Slippery Rock 2 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0 Edinboro 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 6 – 0 Championship: Shippensburg 34, Millersville 17 $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from AP Poll	1981 NCAA Division II independents football records Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 Northern Michigan ^   –   11 – 1 – 0 West Chester   –   8 – 3 – 0 Eastern Washington   –   7 – 3 – 0 Saint Mary's   –   7 – 3 – 0 Southern Connecticut State   –   6 – 3 – 1 Arkansas–Pine Bluff   –   5 – 4 – 2 Central Connecticut   –   5 – 5 – 0 Mankato State   –   5 – 5 – 0 New Haven   –   4 – 4 – 2 Towson State   –   5 – 5 – 0 Morgan State   –   4 – 5 – 0 St. Cloud State   –   4 – 6 – 1 Central State (OH)   –   4 – 7 – 0 Sonoma State   –   3 – 7 – 0 Kentucky State   –   2 – 6 – 0 Santa Clara   –   2 – 8 – 0 Portland State   –   2 – 9 – 0 American International   –   1 – 8 – 0 Liberty   –   1 – 9 – 0 ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

Conference summaries

See also: List of NCAA Division II football seasons

Conference Champions

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Virginia Union Far Western Football Conference – UC Davis and Cal State–Hayward Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Grand Valley State Gulf South Conference – Jacksonville State Heartland Collegiate Conference – Franklin and Indiana Central Lone Star Conference – Southwest Texas State Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Northeast Missouri State North Central Conference – North Dakota State Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota State–Moorhead Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – Shippensburg Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – New Mexico Highlands South Atlantic Conference – Elon Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Alabama A&M

Postseason

1981 NCAA Division II Football Championship
Teams	8
Finals Site	Veterans Stadium McAllen, TX
Champion	Southwest Texas State (1st title, 1st title game)
Runner-up	North Dakota State (1st title game)
Semifinalists	Northern Michigan Shippensburg State
Winning coach	Jim Wacker 1st championship

The 1981 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the ninth single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The championship game was held at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium in McAllen, Texas, for the first time.

Playoff bracket

	First round Campus sites					Semifinals Campus sites					Championship McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium McAllen, TX
	Northern Michigan		55
	Elizabeth City State		6
						Northern Michigan		0
						Southwest Texas State		62
	Southwest Texas State		38
	Jacksonville State		22
											Southwest Texas State		42
											North Dakota State		13
	North Dakota State		24
	Puget Sound		10
						North Dakota State		18
						Shippensburg		6
	Shippensburg		40
	Virginia Union		27

See also

• 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season
• 1981 NCAA Division I-AA football season
• 1981 NCAA Division III football season
• 1981 NAIA Division I football season
• 1981 NAIA Division II football season