NAIA football national championship

The NAIA football national championship is decided by a post-season playoff system featuring the best National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) college football teams in the United States. Under sponsorship of the NAIA, the championship game has been played annually since 1956.^[1]

NAIA football national championship
In operation	1956–present
Preceded by	Small college polls & NAIA Division II Championship
Number of playoff teams	20
Championship trophy	Tom Osborne Trophy
Television partner(s)	ESPN3
Most playoff championships	Texas A&M-Kingsville (7)
Current champion	Keiser (2023)
Website	NAIA Football

In 1970, NAIA football was divided into two divisions based on enrollment, Division I and Division II, with a championship game played in each division. In 1997, NAIA football was again consolidated back into one division. NAIA schools are allowed to offer 24 full varsity football scholarships which can be divided up as they wish. Junior varsity scholarship players do not count towards the total.

Texas A&I (now known as Texas A&M–Kingsville) is still the most prolific program with seven NAIA championships, despite having been in NCAA Division II since 1980. Carroll College of Montana is the most successful team still playing at the NAIA level, with six national titles.

Keiser is the current champion, having defeated the Northwestern Red Raiders in the 2023 title game, 31–21.

Game name

Over the years, the NAIA championship games were played under a variety of names:

• Aluminum Bowl (1956)
• Holiday Bowl (1957–1960)^{[lower-alpha 1]}
• Camellia Bowl (1961–1963)^{[lower-alpha 2]}
• Champion Bowl (1964–1976 and 1980–1996, Division I games only)
• Apple Bowl (1977, Division I game only)
• Palm Bowl (1978–1979, Division I games only)

Results

Season	Date	Champion	Score	Runner-up	Location	Winning head coach(es)
1956	December 22, 1956	Montana State Saint Joseph's (IN)	0–0[lower-alpha 3]		Little Rock, Arkansas	Tony Storti Bob Jauron
1957	December 21, 1957	Pittsburg State	27–26	Hillsdale	Saint Petersburg, Florida	Carnie Smith
1958	December 20, 1958	Northeastern State	19–13	Arizona State–Flagstaff	Saint Petersburg, Florida	Harold "Tuffy" Stratton
1959	December 19, 1959	Texas A&I	20–7	Lenoir–Rhyne	Saint Petersburg, Florida	Gil Steinke
1960	December 17, 1960	Lenoir–Rhyne	15–14	Humboldt State	Saint Petersburg, Florida	Clarence Stasavich
1961	December 9, 1961	Pittsburg State	12–7	Linfield	Sacramento, California	Carnie Smith
1962	December 8, 1962	Central State (OK)	28–13	Lenoir–Rhyne	Sacramento, California	Al Blevins
1963	December 14, 1963	Saint John's (MN)	33–27	Prairie View A&M	Sacramento, California	John Gagliardi
1964	December 12, 1964	Concordia (MN) Sam Houston State	7–7[lower-alpha 3]		Augusta, Georgia	Jake Christiansen Paul Pierce
1965	December 11, 1965	Saint John's (MN)	33–0	Linfield	Augusta, Georgia	John Gagliardi
1966	December 10, 1966	Waynesburg	42–21	Wisconsin–Whitewater	Tulsa, Oklahoma	Carl DePasqua
1967	December 9, 1967	Fairmont State	28–21	Eastern Washington	Morgantown, West Virginia	Harold "Deacon" Duvall
1968	December 14, 1968	Troy State	43–35	Texas A&I	Montgomery, Alabama	Billy Atkins
1969	December 13, 1969	Texas A&I	32–7	Concordia (MN)	Kingsville, Texas	Gil Steinke
1970	December 12, 1970	Texas A&I	48–7	Wofford	Greenville, South Carolina	Gil Steinke
1971	December 11, 1971	Livingston	14–12	Arkansas Tech	Birmingham, Alabama	Mickey Andrews
1972	December 9, 1972	East Texas State	21–18	Carson–Newman	Commerce, Texas	Ernest Hawkins
1973	December 8, 1973	Abilene Christian	42–14	Elon	Shreveport, Louisiana	Wally Bullington
1974	December 14, 1974	Texas A&I	34–23	Henderson State	Kingsville, Texas	Gil Steinke
1975	December 13, 1975	Texas A&I	37–0	Salem	Kingsville, Texas	Gil Steinke
1976	December 11, 1976	Texas A&I	26–0	Central Arkansas	Kingsville, Texas	Gil Steinke
1977	December 10, 1977	Abilene Christian	24–7	Southwestern Oklahoma State	Seattle, Washington	DeWitt Jones
1978	December 16, 1978	Angelo State	34–14	Elon	McAllen, Texas	Jim Hess
1979	December 15, 1979	Texas A&I	20–14	Central State (OK)	McAllen, Texas	Ron Harms
1980	December 20, 1980	Elon	17–10	Northeastern State	Burlington, North Carolina	Jerry Tolley
1981	December 19, 1981	Elon	3–0	Pittsburg State	Burlington, North Carolina	Jerry Tolley
1982	December 18, 1982	Central State (OK)	14–11	Mesa State	Edmond, Oklahoma	Gary Howard
1983	December 17, 1983	Carson–Newman	36–28	Mesa State	Grand Junction, Colorado	Ken Sparks
1984	December 15, 1984	Carson–Newman Central Arkansas	19–19[lower-alpha 3]		Conway, Arkansas	Ken Sparks Harold Horton
1985	December 21, 1985	Hillsdale Central Arkansas	10–10[lower-alpha 3]		Conway, Arkansas	Dick Lowry Harold Horton
1986	December 20, 1986	Carson–Newman	17–0	Cameron	Jefferson City, Tennessee	Ken Sparks
1987	December 19, 1987	Cameron	30–2	Carson–Newman	Lawton, Oklahoma	Brian Naber
1988	December 17, 1988	Carson–Newman	56–21	Adams State	Jefferson City, Tennessee	Ken Sparks
1989	December 16, 1989	Carson–Newman	34–20	Emporia State	Jefferson City, Tennessee	Ken Sparks
1990	December 8, 1990	Central State (OH)	38–16	Mesa State	Grand Junction, Colorado	Billy Joe
1991	December 14, 1991	Central Arkansas	19–16	Central State (OH)	Wilberforce, Ohio	Mike Isom
1992	December 12, 1992	Central State (OH)	19–16	Gardner–Webb	Boiling Springs, North Carolina	Billy Joe
1993	December 11, 1993	East Central	49–35	Glenville State	Ada, Oklahoma	Hank Walbrick
1994	December 10, 1994	Northeastern State	13–12	Arkansas–Pine Bluff	Pine Bluff, Arkansas	Tom Eckert
1995	December 2, 1995	Central State (OH)	37–7	Northeastern State	Tahlequah, Oklahoma	Rick Comegy
1996	December 7, 1996	Southwestern Oklahoma State	33–31	Montana Tech	Weatherford, Oklahoma	Paul Sharp
1997	December 20, 1997	Findlay	14–7	Willamette	Savannah, Tennessee	Dick Strahm
1998	December 19, 1998	Azusa Pacific	17–14	Olivet Nazarene	Savannah, Tennessee	Vic Shealy
1999	December 18, 1999	Northwestern Oklahoma State	34–26	Georgetown (KY)	Savannah, Tennessee	Tim Albin
2000	December 16, 2000	Georgetown (KY)	20–0	Northwestern Oklahoma State	Savannah, Tennessee	Bill Cronin
2001	December 15, 2001	Georgetown (KY)	49–27	Sioux Falls	Savannah, Tennessee	Bill Cronin
2002	December 21, 2002	Carroll (MT)	28–7	Georgetown (KY)	Savannah, Tennessee	Mike Van Diest
2003	December 20, 2003	Carroll (MT)	41–28	Northwestern Oklahoma State	Savannah, Tennessee	Mike Van Diest
2004	December 18, 2004	Carroll (MT)	15–13 (2 OT)	Saint Francis (IN)	Savannah, Tennessee	Mike Van Diest
2005	December 17, 2005	Carroll (MT)	27–10	Saint Francis (IN)	Savannah, Tennessee	Mike Van Diest
2006	December 16, 2006	Sioux Falls	23–19	Saint Francis (IN)	Savannah, Tennessee	Kalen DeBoer
2007	December 15, 2007	Carroll (MT)	17–9	Sioux Falls	Savannah, Tennessee	Mike Van Diest
2008	December 20, 2008	Sioux Falls	23–7	Carroll (MT)	Rome, Georgia	Kalen DeBoer
2009	December 19, 2009	Sioux Falls	25–22	Lindenwood	Rome, Georgia	Kalen DeBoer
2010	December 18, 2010	Carroll (MT)	10–7	Sioux Falls	Rome, Georgia	Mike Van Diest
2011	December 17, 2011	Saint Xavier	24–20	Carroll (MT)	Rome, Georgia	Mike Feminis
2012	December 13, 2012	Marian (IN)	30–27 (OT)	Morningside	Rome, Georgia	Ted Karras Jr.
2013	December 21, 2013	Grand View	35–23	Cumberlands (KY)	Rome, Georgia	Mike Woodley
2014	December 19, 2014	Southern Oregon	55–31	Marian (IN)	Daytona Beach, Florida	Craig Howard
2015	December 19, 2015	Marian (IN)	31–14	Southern Oregon	Daytona Beach, Florida	Mark Henninger
2016	December 17, 2016	Saint Francis (IN)	38–17	Baker	Daytona Beach, Florida	Kevin Donley
2017	December 16, 2017	Saint Francis (IN)	24–13	Reinhardt	Daytona Beach, Florida	Kevin Donley
2018	December 15, 2018	Morningside	35–28	Benedictine	Daytona Beach, Florida	Steve Ryan
2019	December 21, 2019	Morningside	40–38	Marian (IN)	Grambling, Louisiana	Steve Ryan
2020[lower-alpha 4]	May 10, 2021	Lindsey Wilson	45–13	Northwestern (IA)	Grambling, Louisiana	Chris Oliver
2021	December 18, 2021	Morningside	38–28	Grand View	Durham, North Carolina	Steve Ryan
2022	December 17, 2022	Northwestern (IA)	35–25	Keiser	Durham, North Carolina	Matt McCarty
2023	December 18, 2023	Keiser	31–21	Northwestern (IA)	Durham, North Carolina	Doug Socha

1. Not to be confused with the NCAA Division I bowl of the same name.
2. Not to be confused with the NCAA Division I bowl of the same name.
3. Game ended in a tie with both teams as co-champions.
4. Game played in spring 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Championships by school

See also: List of NAIA national football championship series appearances by team

• NAIA Division II titles are not included in this list.

• Programs that no longer compete in NAIA are indicated in italics with a pink background.

Team	Championships	Winning years
Texas A&I (Texas A&M–Kingsville)	7	1959, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979
Carroll (MT)	6	2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010
Carson–Newman	5	1983, 1984,[lower-alpha 1] 1986, 1988, 1989
Central Arkansas	3	1984,[lower-alpha 1] 1985,[lower-alpha 1] 1991
Central State (OH)	3	1990, 1992, 1995
Sioux Falls	3	2006, 2008, 2009
Morningside	3	2018, 2019, 2021
Pittsburg State	2	1957, 1961
Saint John's (MN)	2	1963, 1965
Abilene Christian	2	1973, 1977
Elon	2	1980, 1981
Central State (OK) (Central Oklahoma)	2	1962, 1982
Northeastern State	2	1958, 1994
Georgetown (KY)	2	2000, 2001
Marian (IN)	2	2012, 2015
Saint Francis (IN)	2	2016, 2017
Montana State	1	1956[lower-alpha 1]
Saint Joseph's (IN)	1	1956[lower-alpha 1]
Lenoir–Rhyne	1	1960
Concordia–Moorhead	1	1964[lower-alpha 1]
Sam Houston State	1	1964[lower-alpha 1]
Waynesburg	1	1966
Fairmont State	1	1967
Troy State (Troy)	1	1968
Livingston (West Alabama)	1	1971
East Texas State (Texas A&M–Commerce)	1	1972
Angelo State	1	1978
Hillsdale	1	1985[lower-alpha 1]
Cameron	1	1987
East Central (OK)	1	1993
Southwestern Oklahoma	1	1996
Findlay (OH)	1	1997
Azusa Pacific	1	1998
Northwestern Oklahoma	1	1999
Saint Xavier	1	2011
Grand View	1	2013
Southern Oregon	1	2014
Lindsey Wilson	1	2020
Northwestern (IA)	1	2022
Keiser	1	2023

1. Shared title

See also

• List of NAIA football programs
• List of NAIA national football championship series appearances by team
• NAIA Division II football national championship
• NCAA Division I-FCS football championship
• NCAA Division II football championship
• NCAA Division III football championship

References

1. "NAIA Football Championship History". National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Retrieved April 7, 2008.