1977 NCAA Division II football rankings

The 1977 NCAA Division II football rankings are from the Associated Press. This is for the 1977 season.

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
(#–#)		Win–loss record
(Italics)		Number of first place votes
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

Associated Press poll

	Week 1 Sept 21[1]	Week 2 Sept 28[2]	Week 3 Oct 5[3]	Week 4 Oct 12[4]	Week 5 Oct 19[5]	Week 6 Oct 26[6]	Week 7 Nov 2[7]	Week 8 Nov 9[8]	Week 9 Nov 16[9]
1.	Montana State (2–0)	Montana State (3–0)	South Carolina State (4–0)	South Carolina State (5–0)	South Carolina State (6–0)	New Hampshire (7–0)	South Carolina State (7–0–1)	South Carolina State (8–0–1)	North Dakota State (8–1–1)	1.
2.	South Carolina State (2–0)	South Carolina State (3–0)	New Hampshire (4–0)	New Hampshire (5–0)	New Hampshire (6–0)	South Carolina State (6–0–1)	North Dakota State (6–1–1)	North Dakota State (7–1–1)	UMass (8–1)	2.
3.	New Hampshire (2–0)	New Hampshire (3–0)	Jacksonville State (5–0)	Boise State (4–1)	Montana State (5–1)	Northern Michigan (7–1)	UMass (6–1) т	UMass (7–1)	UC Davis (9–0)	3.
4.	Akron (2–0–1)	Jacksonville State (4–0)	Boise State (3–1)	Montana State (4–1)	Northern Michigan (6–1)	North Dakota State (5–1–1)	Tennessee Tech (8–0) т	Nevada (8–1)	South Carolina State (8–1–1)	4.
5.	Jacksonville State (3–0)	North Dakota State (2–1–1)	Montana State (3–1)	Northern Michigan (5–1)	North Dakota State (4–1–1)	UMass (6–1)	Nevada (7–1)	New Hampshire (8–1)	Boise State (8–2) т	5.
6.	North Dakota State (1–1–1)	Northern Michigan (3–1)	North Dakota State (3–1–1)	North Dakota State (3–1–1)	UMass (5–1)	Tennessee Tech (7–0)	New Hampshire (7–1)	Boise State (7–2)	Northern Arizona (8–2) т	6.
7.	Northern Michigan (2–1)	Tennessee Tech (3–0)	Northern Michigan (4–1)	UMass (4–1)	Tennessee Tech (6–0)	Nevada (6–1)	UC Davis (7–0)	Tennessee Tech (8–1)	Nevada (8–2) т	7.
8.	Florida A&M (2–0)	Northern Arizona	UMass (3–1)	Akron (4–1–1) т	Nevada (5–1)	UC Davis (6–0) т [note 1]	Boise State (6–2)	UC Davis (8–0)	Lehigh (8–2)	8.
9.	Nevada (2–0) т	North Alabama (3–0)	Akron (3–1–1)	Tennessee Tech (5–0) т	Jacksonville State (5–1)	Winston–Salem State (8–0) т	Troy State (6–2)	Northern Michigan (7–2)	Jacksonville State (8–2)	9.
10.	Tennessee Tech (2–0) т	UMass (2–1) [note 2]	North Alabama (4–0) т	Jacksonville State (5–1) т	Austin Peay (5–1) т	Bethune–Cookman (6–1) т	Winston–Salem State (9–0)	Winston–Salem State (10–0) т	Winston–Salem State (8–2) т	10.
11.			Tennessee Tech (4–0) т	North Alabama (5–0) т	Winston–Salem State (7–0) т	Northeast Missouri State (6–1) т		Northern Arizona (7–2) т	Northern Michigan (7–2) т	11.
12.								Lehigh (7–2) т	New Hampshire (8–2) т	12.
	Week 1 Sept 21[10]	Week 2 Sept 28[11]	Week 3 Oct 5[12]	Week 4 Oct 12[13]	Week 5 Oct 19[14]	Week 6 Oct 26[15]	Week 7 Nov 2[16]	Week 8 Nov 9[17]	Week 9 Nov 16[18]
		Dropped: 4 Akron 8 Florida A&M 9 Nevada	Dropped: 8 Northern Arizona	None	Dropped: 3 Boise State 8 Akron 10 North Alabama	Dropped: 3 Montana State 9 Jacksonville State 10 Austin Peay	Dropped: 3 Northern Michigan 10 Bethune–Cookman 10 Northeast Missouri State	Dropped: 9 Troy State	Dropped: 7 Tennessee Tech

Notes

1. In the actual printed polls, UC Davis was listed as California Davis
2. In the actual printed polls, UMass was listed as Massachusetts