1985 NAIA Division II football season

American college football season

The 1985 NAIA Division II football season, as part of the 1985 college football season in the United States and the 30th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the 16th season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1985 and culminated in the 1985 NAIA Division II Football National Championship, played at the Lincoln Bowl near the campus of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.[1]

Wisconsin–La Crosse defeated Pacific Lutheran in the championship game, 24–7, to win their first NAIA national title. The Eagles won all three of their playoff games on the road.

Conference realignment

Conference changes

  • The Columbia Football League began play this season, with the combined football membership of the former Evergreen (NAIA Division I) and Pacific Northwest (NAIA Division II) conferences.[2] The new league had fourteen members from British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington.
  • This was the final season for the Hoosier-Buckeye Conference. Most members would later join the NCAA Division III Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference (now known as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference), which began play in 1990.[3]

Membership changes

Team 1984 conference 1985 conference
Lewis & Clark Pacific Northwest Columbia
Linfield Pacific Northwest Columbia
Pacific (OR) Pacific Northwest Columbia
Pacific Lutheran Pacific Northwest Columbia
Willamette Pacific Northwest Columbia

Conference standings

1985 Columbia Football League standings
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 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Northern Division
No. 3 Pacific Lutheran x^ 6 – 0 – 0 10 – 1 – 1
No. 15 Puget Sound 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Central Washington 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Simon Fraser 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Whitworth 3 – 3 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Western Washington 1 – 4 – 1 2 – 6 – 1
Eastern Oregon 0 – 5 – 1 0 – 8 – 2
Southern Division
No. 5 Linfield x^ 6 – 0 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
No. 8 Western Oregon * 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Willamette 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 2 – 1
Southern Oregon 2 – 3 – 0 2 – 6 – 1
Oregon Tech 1 – 4 – 0 1 – 7 – 0
Lewis & Clark 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Pacific (OR) 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • * – NAIA Division I playoff participant
    ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division I poll for Puget Sound and Western Oregon and NAIA Division II poll for Pacific Lutheran and Linfield
1985 Frontier Conference football standings
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 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Carroll (MT) $^ 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Western Montana 4 – 2 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Rocky Mountain 2 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Montana Tech 1 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1985 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings
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 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 10 Baker + 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
No. 16 MidAmerica Nazarene + 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
No. 19 William Jewell + 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Missouri Valley 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Graceland 2 – 4 – 1 5 – 4 – 1
Tarkio 2 – 4 – 1 3 – 6 – 1
Culver–Stockton 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
Central Methodist 0 – 7 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1985 Hoosier–Buckeye Conference football standings
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 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Findlay $^ 6 – 0 – 0 10 – 1 – 0
No. 11 Bluffton 5 – 1 – 0 8 – 1 – 0
No. 13 Wilmington (OH) 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Hanover 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Manchester (IN) 1 – 5 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Anderson (IN) 1 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Defiance 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1985 Illini–Badger Football Conference standings
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 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Lakeland $ 4 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Concordia (IL) 3 – 2 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Eureka 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Concordia (WI) 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Northeastern Illinois 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Principia 1 – 4 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
1985 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings
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 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 15 Southwestern (KS) $ 8 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Bethany (KS) 7 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
No. 17 Bethel (KS) 7 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Sterling 6 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Ottawa 5 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
St. Mary of the Plains 4 – 5 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Friends 3 – 6 – 0 3 – 6 – 0
Tabor 2 – 7 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Kansas Wesleyan 2 – 7 – 0 2 – 8 – 0
McPherson 1 – 8 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1985 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
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 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 14 Midland $ 5 – 0 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Doane 4 – 1 – 0 6 – 3 – 1
Hastings 2 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Nebraska Wesleyan 2 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
Concordia (NE) 2 – 3 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Dana 0 – 5 – 0 1 – 8 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1985 North Dakota College Athletic Conference football standings
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 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 12 Minot State $ 5 – 0 – 0 7 – 1 – 1
No. 18 Dickinson State 4 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 0
Valley City State 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Jamestown 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 5 – 1
Mayville State 1 – 4 – 0 1 – 7 – 0
NDSCS–Wahpeton 0 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1985 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings
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 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
South Dakota Tech $ 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Huron 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Sioux Falls 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 1
Dakota Wesleyan 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Black Hills State 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Dakota State 0 – 6 – 0 0 – 10 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
1985 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
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 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Austin + 4 – 2 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Sul Ross + 4 – 2 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Tarleton State 3 – 3 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
McMurry 1 – 5 – 0 1 – 9 – 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
1985 Wisconsin State University Conference football standings
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 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Wisconsin–River Falls $ 6 – 1 – 1 8 – 1 – 1
No. 8 Wisconsin–La Crosse ^ 5 – 1 – 2 11 – 1 – 2
Wisconsin–Stevens Point 5 – 2 – 1 8 – 2 – 1
Wisconsin–Platteville 5 – 3 – 0 5 – 5 – 0
Wisconsin–Eau Claire 3 – 4 – 1 5 – 4 – 1
Wisconsin–Whitewater 3 – 4 – 1 3 – 7 – 1
Wisconsin–Oshkosh 2 – 5 – 1 4 – 5 – 1
Wisconsin–Stout 2 – 6 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Wisconsin–Superior 1 – 6 – 1 2 – 8 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion
  • * – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll
1985 NAIA Division II independents football records
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 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Benedictine (KS) ^   –   10 – 1 – 0
No. 4 Northwestern (IA) ^   –   9 – 1 – 1
No. 9 Azusa Pacific   –   7 – 1 – 1
No. 20 Loras   –   8 – 2 – 1
No. 6 St. Ambrose ^   –   8 – 2 – 1
Texas Lutheran   –   6 – 3 – 0
Chadron State   –   5 – 3 – 1
Geneva   –   5 – 4 – 0
Westminster (PA)   –   5 – 4 – 0
Oklahoma Panhandle State   –   5 – 4 – 1
Evangel   –   4 – 6 – 0
Waynesburg   –   4 – 6 – 0
Peru State   –   3 – 7 – 0
Iowa Wesleyan   –   2 – 7 – 0
Westmar   –   2 – 8 – 0
Cumberland (KY)   –   1 – 9 – 0
  • ^ – NAIA Division II playoff participant
Rankings from NAIA Division II poll

Conference champions

Conference Champion Record
Columbia Northern Division: Pacific Lutheran
Southern Division: Linfield 		6–0
6–0
Frontier Carroll (MT) 5–1
Heart of America Baker
MidAmerica Nazarene
William Jewell 		6–1
Hoosier-Buckeye Findlay 6–0
Kansas Southwestern (KS) 8–1
Nebraska Midland Lutheran 5–0
North Dakota Minot State 5–0
South Dakota South Dakota Tech 5–1
Texas Austin
Sul Ross 		4–2
WSUC Wisconsin–River Falls 6–1–1

Postseason

Quarterfinals
Campus sites 		Semifinals
Campus sites 		Championship
Tacoma, WA
         
  Wisconsin–La Crosse 24
  Carroll (MT)* 0
  Wisconsin–La Crosse (3OT) 35
  Northwestern (IA) ‡‡ 28
  Northwestern (IA) 32
  Benedictine* 22
  Wisconsin–La Crosse 24
  Pacific Lutheran* 7
  Linfield 12
  Pacific Lutheran* 30
  Pacific Lutheran* 40
  Findlay 29
  Saint Ambrose 0
  Findlay ‡ 7

See also

References

  1. ^ "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  2. ^ "NAIA Football Regular Season Records" (PDF). NAIA. p. 20. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  3. ^ "NAIA Football Regular Season Records" (PDF). NAIA. p. 21. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
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