1995 NAIA Division I football season

1995 NAIA Division I football season
1995 NAIA Division I football season
Regular season	August–November 1995
Postseason	November 18–December 2, 1995
National Championship	Doc Wadley Stadium; Tahlequah, OK
Champions	Central State (OH) (3)
	← 1994; NAIA Division I football season; 1996 →;

The 1995 NAIA Division I football season was the 40th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA, was the 26th season of play of the NAIA's top division for football.

The season was played from August to November 1995 and culminated in the 1995 NAIA Champion Bowl playoffs and the 1995 NAIA Champion Bowl, played this year on December 2, 1995 at Doc Wadley Stadium in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, on the campus of Northeastern State University.^[1]

The Central State Marauders defeated the Northeastern State Redmen in the Champion Bowl, 37–7, to win their third NAIA national title.^[2] It was the RiverHawks' second consecutive loss in the championship game and the Marauders' third title in six seasons.

Conference changes and new programs

Conference changes

The Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference disbanded before the start of the season, with its football members departing for the NCAA Division II's Gulf South Conference and Lone Star Conference.
This was the final season that the NAIA officially recognized a football champion from the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference.^[3] The OIC, the second incarnation of a football conference with the same name, would complete one final season in 1996 before disbanding.

Team	1994 conference	1995 conference
Arkansas–Monticello	Arkansas (NAIA)	Gulf South (NCAA Division II)
Arkansas Tech	Arkansas (NAIA)	Gulf South (NCAA Division II)
Harding	Arkansas (NAIA)	Lone Star (NCAA Division II)
Ouachita Baptist	Arkansas (NAIA)	Lone Star (NCAA Division II)
Southern Arkansas	Arkansas (NAIA)	Gulf South (NCAA Division II)

Conference standings

1995 Frontier Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Western Montana $^	6	–	0	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
No. 7 Carroll (MT)	4	–	2	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Montana Tech	2	–	4	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Rocky Mountain	0	–	6	–	0	0	–	10	–	0

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

1995 Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 4 Northeastern State $^	4	–	1	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
No. 5 SE Oklahoma State	3	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
No. 8 NW Oklahoma State	3	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
No. 9 SW Oklahoma State	2	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
No. T–10 Langston	2	–	3	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
No. T–10 East Central	1	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Panhandle State *	0	–	0	–	0	1	–	9	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant * – ineligible for conference title Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1995 NAIA Division I independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. 1 Central State (OH) ^		–		10	–	1	–	0
No. 3 Arkansas–Pine Bluff ^		–		6	–	4	–	0
No. 6 Westmar		–		6	–	4	–	0
Harding		–		4	–	6	–	0
Ouachita Baptist		–		2	–	7	–	0

^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

Conference champions

Conference	Champion	Record
Frontier	Montana Western	6–0
Oklahoma	Northeastern State	4–1

Postseason

Semifinals November 18, 1995 Campus sites			1995 Champion Bowl December 2, 1995 Tahlequah, OK

	Central State (OH)*	49

	Montana Western	21
				Central State (OH)	37

				Northeastern State*	7
	Northeastern State	17

	Arkansas–Pine Bluff*	14

References

^ "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
^ "1995 Division I NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
^ "NAIA Football Regular Season Records" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 20–23. Retrieved December 11, 2021.