The 1973 NAIA Division I football season was the 18th season of
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
sponsored by the
NAIA and the fourth season of the league's two-division structure.
The season was played from August to November 1973 and culminated in the 1973 NAIA
Champion Bowl, played on December 8, 1973 at
Independence Stadium Independence Stadium may also refer to:
* Independence Stadium (Bakau) in Gambia
* Independence Stadium (Namibia) in Windhoek
* Independence Stadium (South Africa) in Mthatha, a football stadium in South Africa
* Independence Stadium (Tanzania) ...
in
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...
.
Abilene Christian defeated in the Champion Bowl, 42–14, to win their first NAIA national title.
Conference realignment
Conference changes
* This was the final season for the
Oklahoma Collegiate Conference The Oklahoma Collegiate Conference (OCC), also known as the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference (OCAC), was an College athletics, intercollegiate athletic conference that existed from 1929 to 1974. The conference's members were located in the st ...
. After sixty-five season of football dating back to
1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
, the OCC disbanded after the end of play, with six of its members subsequently departing to form the
Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference for the 1974 season.
Conference standings
Postseason
See also
*
1973 NAIA Division II football season
The 1973 NAIA Division II football season was the 18th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA and the fourth season of play of the NAIA's lower division for football.
The season was played from August to November 1973 and culminated i ...
*
1973 NCAA Division I football season
The 1973 NCAA Division I football season was the first for the NCAA's current three-division structure. Effective with the 1973–74 academic year, schools formerly in the NCAA "University Division" were classified as Division I (later subdiv ...
*
1973 NCAA Division II football season
The 1973 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. The season began in September and concluded with the Division II Champi ...
*
1973 NCAA Division III football season
The 1973 NCAA Division III football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division III level, began in August 1973, and concluded with the NCAA Division III Football ...
References
{{NAIA football
NAIA Football National Championship