The 1990 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

at the Division II level, began in August 1990, and concluded with 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 ...

on December 8, 1990, at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama, hosted by the

University of North Alabama The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a public university in Florence, Alabama. It is the state's oldest public university. Occupying a campus in a residential section of Florence, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes ...

. The

North Dakota State Bison The North Dakota State Bison are the athletic teams of North Dakota State University (NDSU), which is located in the city of Fargo, North Dakota. The teams are often called the "Thundering Herd". The current logo is a bison. Sports sponsored ...

defeated , 51–11, to win their fifth Division II national title. The Harlon Hill Trophy was awarded to Chris Simdorn, quarterback from North Dakota State.

Conference and program changes

*One program departed Division II for Division I-AA prior to the season. *The

Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference The Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference (MIFC) was a football-only NCAA Division II conference formed for the 1990 football season. The conference was formed as the result of a merger of the football only Heartland Collegiate Conference a ...

(MIFC) was founded prior to the season by the football-playing members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (six teams) and the

Heartland Collegiate Conference The Heartland Collegiate Conference (HCC) was a football-only intercollegiate athletic conference that evolved out of the Indiana Collegiate Conference (ICC) and competed between 1978 and 1989. Originally comprising the football-playing arm of the ...

(five teams). As such, the GLIAC abandoned its sponsorship of football and the Heartland disbanded.

Conference standings

, valign="top" width=25em, , - , valign="top" width=25em,

Conference summaries

Postseason

The 1990

playoffs were the 18th single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

college football. The championship game was held at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama, for the fifth time.

Playoff bracket

References