1975 NCAA Division II football season

{{Infobox NCAA Division II season

| year = 1975

| image =

| image_caption =

| regular_season = September – November 1975

| playoffs = November – December 1975

| nc_date = December 13

| championship = Hughes Stadium
Sacramento, CA

| champion = Northern Michigan

}}

The 1975 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 September and concluded with the Division II Championship on December 13 at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California.

Northern Michigan defeated Western Kentucky in the championship game, 16–14, to win their first Division II national title.{{cite web|title=1975 NCAA Division II National Football Championship Bracket|url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_champs_records/2012/d2/2012DIIfbchamp.pdf|work=NCAA|publisher=NCAA.org|access-date=January 2, 2014|pages=13}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Wq5VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=POADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5796%2C4132381 |newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon)|agency=Associated Press |title=Winless in '74, then a title in '75 |date=December 14, 1975 |page=10B}}

Conference and program changes

School	1974 Conference	1975 Conference
class="wikitable sortable"
style="text-align:center;" \| Central Connecticut State	Eastern	Independent
style="text-align:center;" \| Elon	Conference Carolinas (NAIA)	South Atlantic
style="text-align:center;" \| Gardner–Webb	NAIA Independent	South Atlantic
style="text-align:center;" \| Vermont	Yankee	Dropped Program

Conference standings

cellpadding="5"

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 Big Sky Conference football standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings}}

valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 Far Western Conference football standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 Indiana Collegiate Conference football standings}}

valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 North Central Conference football standings}}

valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 Northern Intercollegiate Conference football standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 Ohio Valley Conference football standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference football standings}}

valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 Virginia College Athletic Association football standings}}

valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 Yankee Conference football standings}}

|valign="top" width=25em|{{1975 NCAA Division II independents football records}}

Conference summaries

Conference	Champion(s)
class="wikitable"
Big Sky Conference	Boise State
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Norfolk State
Far Western Football Conference	UC Davis
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference	Wayne State (MI)
Gulf South Conference	Nicholls State
Indiana Collegiate Conference	Butler
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Southeast Missouri State
North Central Conference	North Dakota
Northern Intercollegiate Conference	Minnesota–Morris
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference	East Stroudsburg State
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (Division II)	Bethune-Cookman
Yankee Conference	New Hampshire

Postseason

{{Infobox NCAA Football Tournament |

| Division=II

| Year=1975

| Image=

| ImageSize=

| Caption=

| Teams=8

| Stadium=Charles C. Hughes Stadium

| Location=Sacramento, California

| Champions=Northern Michigan

| TitleCount=1st

| ChampGameCount = 1st

| ChampCount = 1

| RunnerUp=Western Kentucky

| GameCount=2nd

| RunnerCount = 2

| Semifinal1=Livingston

| SemisCount = 1

| Semifinal2=New Hampshire

| SemisCount2 = 1

| Coach=Gil Krueger

| CoachCount = 1st

| Attendance=

}}

The 1975 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the third single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division II college football.

The four quarterfinal games were played on campus and all four host teams lost. The semifinals were the Pioneer Bowl in Wichita Falls, Texas, and the Grantland Rice Bowl in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The championship game was the Camellia Bowl, held at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento, California for the third and final time. The Northern Michigan Wildcats defeated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 16–14 to win their first national title. Of all current members of Division II, as of 2015, Northern Michigan was the first to win the playoff national championship. They went from winless (0–10) in 1974 to 13–1 and national champions in 1975, led by sophomore quarterback Steve Mariucci,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=O8heAAAAIBAJ&sjid=STIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5568%2C8839562|newspaper=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho)|agency=Associated Press |title=Fumbles cost Boise 24-21|date=November 30, 1975|page=3B }} later a head coach in the NFL for nine seasons.

=Playoff bracket=

{{8TeamBracket

| RD1=First round
Campus sites

November 29

| RD2=Semifinals
Pioneer Bowl
Grantland Rice Bowl
December 6

| RD3=Championship
Camellia Bowl
Hughes Stadium
Sacramento, CA
December 13

| RD1-seed1=

| RD1-team1=Northern Michigan

| RD1-score1=24

| RD1-seed2=

| RD1-team2=Boise State *

| RD1-score2= 21

| RD1-seed3=

| RD1-team3={{cfb link|year=1975|team=Livingston Tigers|title=Livingston}}

| RD1-score3=34

| RD1-seed4=

| RD1-team4={{cfb link|year=1975|team=North Dakota Fighting Sioux|title=North Dakota}} *

| RD1-score4=14

| RD1-seed5=

| RD1-team5=Western Kentucky

| RD1-score5=14

| RD1-seed6=

| RD1-team6=Northern Iowa *

| RD1-score6= 12

| RD1-seed7=

| RD1-team7=New Hampshire

| RD1-score7=35

| RD1-seed8=

| RD1-team8=Lehigh *

| RD1-score8=21

| RD2-seed1=

| RD2-team1=Northern Michigan

| RD2-score1=28

| RD2-seed2=

| RD2-team2=Livingston

| RD2-score2=26

| RD2-seed3=

| RD2-team3=Western Kentucky

| RD2-score3=14

| RD2-seed4=

| RD2-team4=New Hampshire

| RD2-score4=3

| RD3-seed1=

| RD3-team1=Northern Michigan

| RD3-score1=16

| RD3-seed2=

| RD3-team2=Western Kentucky

| RD3-score2=14

}}

* Denotes host institution