1984 NCAA Division II football season

1984 NCAA Division II Football Championship
1984 NCAA Division II Football Championship
Teams	8
Finals Site	Veterans Stadium; McAllen, TX;
Champion	Troy State; (1st title, 1st title game);
Runner-up	North Dakota State; (3rd title game);
Semifinalists	Nebraska–Omaha; Towson State;
Winning coach	Chan Gailey; 1st championship;

1984 NCAA Division II football season
1984 NCAA Division II football season
Regular season	August – November 1984
Playoffs	December 1984
National Championship	Palm Bowl; Veterans Stadium; McAllen, TX
Champion	Troy State
	← 1983; NCAA Division II football seasons; 1985 →;

The 1984 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 1984, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship on December 8, 1984, 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.

Troy State defeated North Dakota State in the championship game, 18–17, to win their first Division II national title.^[1]

Conference changes and new programs

Four programs departed Division II for Division I-AA prior to the season. Three were members of the Lone Star Conference, invited to join the newly formed, Division I-AA Gulf Star Conference.

School	1983 Conference	1984 Conference
Eastern Washington	D-II Independent	I-AA Independent
Sam Houston State	Lone Star	Gulf Star (I-AA)
Texas State	Lone Star	Gulf Star (I-AA)
Stephen F. Austin	Lone Star	Gulf Star (I-AA)

Conference standings

1984 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Northern
No. T–6 Norfolk State xy$^	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Hampton	4	–	2	–	1	5	–	3	–	2
Virginia State	4	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Virginia Union	3	–	3	–	1	5	–	3	–	2
Elizabeth City State	2	–	4	–	1	4	–	5	–	1
Saint Paul's (VA)	0	–	7	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Southern
Winston-Salem State xy	7	–	0	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
North Carolina Central	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Fayetteville State	3	–	3	–	1	4	–	4	–	1
Johnson C. Smith	3	–	4	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Livingstone	2	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Bowie State	0	–	7	–	0	0	–	10	–	1
Championship: Norfolk State 20, Winston-Salem State 19
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1984 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Saginaw Valley State $^	6	–	0	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
No. 17 Northwood	5	–	1	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Wayne State (MI)	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Hillsdale	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Michigan Tech	2	–	4	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Ferris State	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
Grand Valley State	0	–	6	–	0	0	–	10	–	0

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

1984 Gulf South Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. T–3 Troy State $^	7	–	1	–	0	12	–	1	–	0
No. 10 Mississippi College	5	–	2	–	1	6	–	2	–	1
North Alabama	4	–	1	–	3	7	–	1	–	3
Delta State	5	–	2	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
Jacksonville State	4	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	1
Livingston	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Valdosta State	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Tennessee–Martin	1	–	6	–	1	2	–	8	–	1
West Georgia	1	–	7	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

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

1984 Heartland Collegiate Conference standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Ashland $	5	–	0	–	1	6	–	3	–	1
Indiana Central	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Butler	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Franklin (IN)	3	–	2	–	1	5	–	4	–	1
Valparaiso	2	–	4	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Saint Joseph's (IN)	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	7	–	0
Evansville	1	–	5	–	0	2	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion

1984 Lone Star Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 10 Angelo State $	4	–	0	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Texas A&I	3	–	1	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Abilene Christian	2	–	2	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
East Texas State	1	–	3	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Howard Payne	0	–	4	–	0	1	–	8	–	1

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

1984 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 5 NW Missouri State $^	5	–	0	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Central Missouri State	4	–	1	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
NE Missouri State	3	–	2	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Missouri–Rolla	2	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
SE Missouri State	1	–	4	–	0	1	–	10	–	0
Lincoln (MO)	0	–	5	–	0	0	–	10	–	1

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

1984 North Central Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 1 North Dakota State +^	8	–	1	–	0	11	–	2	–	0
No. 2 Nebraska–Omaha +^	8	–	1	–	0	11	–	2	–	0
South Dakota	7	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
North Dakota	6	–	3	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Morningside	5	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Mankato State	3	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Northern Colorado	3	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
St. Cloud State	2	–	7	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
South Dakota State	2	–	7	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Augustana (SD)	0	–	9	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

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

1984 Northern California Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. T–6 UC Davis $^	6	–	0	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Sacramento State	5	–	1	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Cal State Hayward	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Chico State	2	–	3	–	1	4	–	5	–	1
Sonoma State	2	–	4	–	0	2	–	8	–	0
San Francisco State	1	–	4	–	1	1	–	8	–	1
Humboldt State	0	–	6	–	0	0	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division II playoff participant San Francisco State forfeited 3 wins including 1 conference win over Sonoma State. Rankings from NCAA Division II Football Committee poll

1984 Northern Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 8 Moorhead State +^	5	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Minnesota Morris +	5	–	1	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
No. 14 Bemidji State	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Minnesota Duluth	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Winona State	2	–	4	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Northern State	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Southwest State (MN)	0	–	6	–	0	3	–	7	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1984 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
East Division
West Chester y	5	–	1	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Bloomsburg xy	5	–	1	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Millersville	4	–	1	–	1	6	–	3	–	1
East Stroudsburg	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Kutztown	1	–	4	–	1	2	–	7	–	1
Cheyney	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Mansfield	0	–	4	–	2	2	–	6	–	2
West Division
Edinboro x	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
California (PA) xy$	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Clarion x	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
IUP x	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Slippery Rock	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Shippensburg	1	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
Lock Haven	1	–	5	–	0	1	–	9	–	0
Championship: California 21, Bloomsburg 14
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant

1984 Western Football Conference standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
Portland State $	3	–	0	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
Cal Poly	2	–	1	–	0	6	–	4	–	0
Santa Clara	1	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Cal State Northridge	0	–	3	–	0	3	–	7	–	0
Cal Lutheran *	0	–	0	–	0	5	–	4	–	1

$ – Conference champion * – Ineligible for conference title

1984 NCAA Division II independents football records
v t e	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
No. T–3 Central State (OH) ^		–		9	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Towson State ^		–		9	–	4	–	0
Southern Connecticut State		–		7	–	3	–	0
Central Connecticut		–		6	–	4	–	0
Northern Michigan		–		6	–	4	–	0
New Haven		–		5	–	5	–	0
Liberty		–		5	–	6	–	0
Saint Mary's		–		5	–	6	–	0
American International		–		4	–	6	–	0
Springfield		–		3	–	7	–	0
Kentucky State		–		2	–	9	–	0
UCF		–		2	–	9	–	0

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

Conference summaries

Conference Champions
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Norfolk State Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Saginaw Valley State Gulf South Conference – Troy State Heartland Collegiate Conference – Ashland Lone Star Conference – Angelo State Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Northwest Missouri State North Central Conference – Nebraska–Omaha and North Dakota State Northern California Athletic Conference – UC Davis Northern Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota–Morris and Minnesota State–Moorhead Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – California (PA) Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference – Fort Lewis South Atlantic Conference – Carson-Newman Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Albany State

Postseason

The 1984 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the 12th 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 fourth consecutive time.

Playoff bracket

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

North Dakota State	31

UC Davis	25
		North Dakota State	25

		Nebraska–Omaha	14
Nebraska–Omaha	28

Northwest Missouri State	15
				North Dakota State	17

				Troy State	18
Troy State	31

Central State (OH)	21
		Troy State	45

		Towson State	3
Towson State	31

Norfolk State	21

References

^ "1984 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. Retrieved January 4, 2014.

[1] "1984 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. p. 13. Retrieved January 4, 2014.

[1]