The 1975 Western Kentucky football team represented

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabethtow ...

during the

1975 NCAA Division II football season 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 De ...

. The team came off an 7–3 record from the prior season and was led by coach

Jimmy Feix James Wyne Feix (August 1, 1931 – October 5, 2014) was an American football player and coach. He served as head football coach at Western Kentucky University 1968 to 1983, compiling a record of 106–56–6. Early life and playing career Feix a ...

. They claimed a share of the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Cham ...

championship and returned to the

NCAA Division II Football Championship The NCAA Division II Football Championship is an American college football tournament played annually to determine a champion at the NCAA Division II level. It was first held in 1973, as a single-elimination tournament with eight teams. The tourna ...

for the second time in three years. One of the highlights of the season was a victory over NCAA Division I

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. The Hilltoppers won their first two playoff games, including a win over

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

in the

Grantland Rice Bowl The Grantland Rice Bowl was an annual college football bowl game from 1964 through 1977, in the NCAA's College Division, for smaller universities and colleges, and later Division II. The game was named for Grantland Rice, an early 20th century A ...

, before falling in the championship game to

Northern Michigan Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan (known colloquially to residents of more southerly parts of the state and summer residents from cities such as Detroit as " Up North"), is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. A popul ...

in the Camellia Bowl. They finished ranked 3rd in both the AP and UPI final polls. This team was one of the best in school history and included future

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) players David Carter, Darryl Drake, Rick Caswell, and Biff Madon. Rick Green was named to the AP All American team as well as the OVC Defensive Player of the Year and Feix was named Divisional Kodak College Coach-of-the-Year. The All OVC team included Green, Sheroid Barrett, Chip Carpenter, Walt Herod, John Leathers, and Keith Tandy.

Schedule

References

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogniz ...

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football seasons Ohio Valley Conference football champion seasons Grantland Rice Bowl champion seasons

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football program is a college football team that represents Western Kentucky University. The team competes at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level and represents the university as a member of Confer ...

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