1996 NAIA Division I football season

1996 NAIA Division I Football Championship
Stadium	Milam Stadium
City	Weatherford, Oklahoma
MOP (Offense)	Keith Kizzie, Southwestern Oklahoma State
MOP (Defense)	Mark Patterson, Southwestern Oklahoma State
Attendance	4,500
NAIA Football National Championship
< 1995	1997 >

1996 NAIA Division I football season
1996 NAIA Division I football season
Regular season	August–November 1996
Postseason	November 23–December 7, 1996
National Championship	Milam Stadium; Weatherford, OK
Champions	Southwestern Oklahoma State
	← 1995; NAIA Division I football season; 1997 →;

The 1996 NAIA Division I football season was the NAIA, was the 27th (and final) season of play of the NAIA's top division for football. The NAIA reverted to a single division for its football championship in 1997.

The regular season was played from August to November 1996. The 1996 NAIA Division I Football Championship Series then concluded with the 1996 NAIA Champion Bowl, played that year on December 7, 1996 at Milam Stadium in Weatherford, Oklahoma.^[1]^[2]

Southwestern Oklahoma State defeated Montana Tech in the Champion Bowl, 33–31, to win their first NAIA national title.^[3]

Conference standings

1996 Frontier Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 Montana Tech $^	4	–	2	7	–	5
No. 4 Carroll (MT) ^	3	–	3	6	–	4
Rocky Mountain	3	–	3	6	–	4
Western Montana	2	–	4	3	–	6

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

1996 Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 SW Oklahoma State +^	4	–	1	9	–	3
No. 3 NW Oklahoma State +^	4	–	1	8	–	3
Langston	3	–	2	6	–	4
No. 5 SE Oklahoma State	3	–	2	6	–	4
East Central	1	–	4	3	–	7
Panhandle State	0	–	5	0	–	10
Northeastern State *	0	–	0	3	–	8

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA Division I playoff participant * – ineligible for conference title Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

1996 NAIA Division I independents football records
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
Harding		–		6	–	4
Central State (OH)		–		4	–	4
Arkansas–Pine Bluff		–		5	–	5
Ouachita Baptist		–		3	–	7

Conference champions

Conference	Champion	Record
Frontier	Montana Tech	4–2

Rankings

Final NAIA Division I poll rankings:

Rank	Team (first place votes)	Record (thru Nov. 17)	Points
1	Southwestern Oklahoma State (2)	7–3	10
2	Montana Tech	6–4	8
3	Northwestern Oklahoma State	8–2	6
4	Carroll (MT)	6–3	4
5	SE Oklahoma State	6–4	2

^[4]

Postseason

Bracket

Semifinals November 23		Championship Game December 7

Carroll (MT)	28

Montana Tech	49
		Montana Tech	31

		SW Oklahoma State	33
NW Oklahoma State	7

SW Oklahoma State	17

References

^ "NAIA OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE - National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
^ "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
^ "1996 Division I NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
^ "NAIA Division I poll". Billings Gazette. Billings, Montana. Associated Press. November 18, 1996. p. 3B. Retrieved May 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .

[cstv1-1] "NAIA OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE - National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2015.

[2] "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2015.

[3] "1996 Division I NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 26, 2015.

[4] "NAIA Division I poll". Billings Gazette. Billings, Montana. Associated Press. November 18, 1996. p. 3B. Retrieved May 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .

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