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

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.

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 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Western Football Conference standings 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 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

See also: List of NCAA Division II football seasons

Conference Champions

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Norfolk State Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Saginaw Valley State Gulf South Conference – Troy State 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

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

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

See also

• 1984 NAIA Division I football season
• 1984 NAIA Division II football season