1973 NCAA Division II football season


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. The season began in September and concluded with the [NCAA NCAA Division II|Division II Football Championship|Division II Championship] on December 15 at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California. This was the first season for Division II football, which were formerly in the College Division in 1972 and prior.
Louisiana Tech won their first Division II championship, defeating Western Kentucky 34–0 in the Camellia Bowl championship game.

Conference summaries

ConferenceChampion
Big Sky ConferenceBoise State
California Collegiate Athletic AssociationCal Poly
Central Intercollegiate Athletic AssociationVirginia Union
Eastern Football ConferenceCentral Connecticut State
Far Western Football ConferenceUC Davis and Cal State Chico
Gulf South ConferenceTroy State
Indiana Collegiate ConferenceButler
Mid-Eastern Athletic ConferenceNorth Carolina Central
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic AssociationSoutheast Missouri State
North Central ConferenceNorth Dakota State and South Dakota
Ohio Valley ConferenceWestern Kentucky
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic ConferenceBethune-Cookman
Southland ConferenceLouisiana Tech
Southwestern Athletic ConferenceGrambling and Jackson State
Yankee ConferenceConnecticut

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; of the four quarterfinal games, three were played on campus and a fourth was in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the final edition of the Boardwalk Bowl. The semifinals were held at the Grantland Rice Bowl in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Pioneer Bowl in Wichita Falls, Texas.
The championship game was the Camellia Bowl, held at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California. The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs defeated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 34–0 to win their first national title.

Playoff bracket

* ''Denotes host institution''

Rankings

United Press International and the Associated Press continued to rank teams in their College Division or "small college" polls, which had started in 1958 and 1960, respectively. In 1973, UPI published their final poll at the end of the regular season, while the AP waited until postseason games had been completed. Both wire services named the Tennessee State Tigers as the number one team; Tennessee State did not compete in the playoffs "because five of its starters would not be eligible to play." The players in question had sat out their freshmen year and then played four seasons; under NCAA rules at the time, such players were not eligible for postseason play as fifth-year seniors. During the regular season, the Tigers were undefeated and had outscored their opponents 333–87.
United Press International final poll
Published on November 28
RankSchoolRecordNo. 1
votes		Total
points
1Tennessee State10–027314
2Western Kentucky10–03275
3Louisiana Tech9–11224
4Abilene Christian9–1176
5Wittenberg9–0169
611–0151
79–296
8Boise State9–291
9Cal Poly9–190
10Delaware8–341
11Jacksonville State7–232
1210–024
13Hawaii8–223
1410–115
15South Dakota8–211

Associated Press final poll
Published on December 19
RankSchoolRecordNo. 1
votes		Total
points
1Tennessee State10–017708
2Louisiana Tech12–121706
3Western Kentucky12–1459
4Wittenberg12–01407
T5Boise State10–3390
T5Abilene Christian11–1390
710–3372
8Cal Poly9–1264
9Hawaii8–2233
1012–1223
11South Dakota8–3221
12Jacksonville State7–2220
13Delaware8–3152
14North Dakota State8–2111
1511–195

Record includes NAIA Division I playoff games
Record includes NCAA Division II playoff games
Record includes NCAA Division III playoff games