1979 NCAA Division II football season


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

School1978 Conference1979 Conference
Bethune-CookmanSIAC MEAC
Morgan StateMEAC Independent
Nicholls StateGulf SouthIndependent

Conference standings

Conference summaries

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

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