1983 NCAA Division II football season

1983 NCAA Division II Football Championship
1983 NCAA Division II Football Championship
Teams	8
Finals Site	Veterans Stadium; McAllen, TX;
Champion	North Dakota State; (1st title, 2nd title game);
Runner-up	Central State (OH); (1st title game);
Semifinalists	UC Davis; North Alabama;
Winning coach	Don Morton; 1st championship;

1983 NCAA Division II football season
1983 NCAA Division II football season
Regular season	August – November 1983
Playoffs	December 1983
National Championship	Palm Bowl; Veterans Stadium; McAllen, TX
Champion	North Dakota State
	← 1982; NCAA Division II football seasons; 1984 →;

The 1983 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 1983, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship on December 10, 1983, 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. The North Dakota State Bison defeated the Central State (Ohio), 41–21, to win their first Division II national title.^[1]

Conference changes and new programs

1983 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Northern
No. 6 Virginia Union xy$^	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Saint Paul's (VA)	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Hampton	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Norfolk State	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Elizabeth City State	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Virginia State	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Southern
Winston-Salem State xy	6	–	0	–	1	8	–	2	–	1
North Carolina Central	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	1	–	1
Livingstone	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Johnson C. Smith	2	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Fayetteville State	1	–	5	–	1	1	–	8	–	1
Bowie State	1	–	6	–	0	1	–	9	–	0
Championship: Virginia Union 34, Winston-Salem State 7
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1983 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 7 Saginaw Valley State $^	6	–	0	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 8 Hillsdale	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Wayne State (MI)	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Northwood	3	–	3	–	0	4	–	4	–	0
Grand Valley State	3	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Michigan Tech	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Ferris State	0	–	6	–	0	0	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1983 Gulf South Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 3 North Alabama $^	8	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	1
Mississippi College	4	–	3	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Troy State	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Livingston	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Jacksonville State	4	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Tennessee–Martin	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Delta State	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Valdosta State	2	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
West Georgia	1	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1983 Heartland Collegiate Conference standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Butler $^	5	–	0	–	1	9	–	1	–	1
Indiana Central	4	–	1	–	1	6	–	3	–	1
Evansville	2	–	1	–	3	3	–	4	–	3
Ashland	2	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Franklin (IN)	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Valparaiso	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Saint Joseph's (IN)	1	–	4	–	1	2	–	7	–	1

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant

1983 Lone Star Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Southwest Texas State +^	6	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
East Texas State +	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Stephen F. Austin	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Abilene Christian	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Angelo State	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Texas A&I	2	–	5	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Sam Houston State	1	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Howard Payne	1	–	6	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1983 North Central Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 North Dakota State +^	8	–	1	–	0	12	–	1	–	0
No. 10 Nebraska–Omaha +	8	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
South Dakota	6	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Augustana (SD)	4	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Northern Colorado	4	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
North Dakota	4	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
St. Cloud State	4	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Mankato State	3	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
South Dakota State	3	–	6	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Morningside	1	–	8	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1983 Northern California Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 UC Davis $^	6	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
Sacramento State	4	–	1	–	1	5	–	5	–	1
Chico State	3	–	2	–	1	4	–	5	–	1
Cal State Hayward	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Humboldt State	3	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
San Francisco State	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Sonoma State	0	–	6	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1983 Northern Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 20 Winona State $	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Moorhead State	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Minnesota Duluth	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Minnesota Morris	2	–	3	–	1	4	–	4	–	2
Northern State	1	–	3	–	2	4	–	4	–	2
Southwest State (MN)	1	–	3	–	2	3	–	6	–	2
Bemidji State	1	–	4	–	1	4	–	6	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1983 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
East Division
East Stroudsburg xy	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Kutztown	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Bloomsburg	4	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Millersville	3	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
West Chester	2	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Mansfield	1	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Cheyney	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
West Division
Clarion xy$	5	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Edinboro	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
California (PA)	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
IUP	4	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Slippery Rock	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Shippensburg	1	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Lock Haven	0	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Championship: Clarion 27, East Stroudsburg 14
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant

1983 NCAA Division II independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 7 Central State (OH) ^		–		12	–	1	–	0
No. 4 Towson State ^		–		10	–	2	–	0
Northern Michigan		–		8	–	2	–	0
Saint Mary's		–		8	–	2	–	0
Southern Connecticut State		–		8	–	2	–	0
Eastern Washington		–		5	–	5	–	0
UCF		–		5	–	6	–	0
Central Connecticut		–		4	–	6	–	0
American International		–		4	–	7	–	0
Kentucky State		–		2	–	7	–	2
Morgan State		–		2	–	8	–	0
Liberty		–		2	–	9	–	0
New Haven		–		1	–	9	–	0

^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

Conference Champions
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Virginia Union Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Saginaw Valley State Gulf South Conference – North Alabama Heartland Collegiate Conference – Butler Lone Star Conference – East Texas State and Southwest Texas State Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Central Missouri State and Missouri–Rolla North Central Conference – Nebraska–Omaha and North Dakota State Northern California Athletic Conference – UC Davis Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Winona State Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – Clarion Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – Colorado Mesa South Atlantic Conference – Carson-Newman Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Fort Valley State

The 1983 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the 11th 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 third consecutive time.

First round Campus sites		Semifinals Campus sites		Championship McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium McAllen, TX

UC Davis	25

Butler	6
		UC Davis	17

		North Dakota State	26
North Dakota State	24

Towson State	17
				North Dakota State	41

				Central State (OH)	21
North Alabama	16

Virginia Union	14
		North Alabama	24

		Central State (OH)	27
Central State (OH)	24

Southwest Texas State	16