The 2004 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 on August 26, 2004, 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 11, 2004 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

Valdosta State Blazers The Valdosta State Blazers are the athletic programs of Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia. Valdosta State is an NCAA Division II member institution and has been a member of the Gulf South Conference since 1981. Facilities Bazemo ...

defeated the

Pittsburg State Gorillas The Pittsburg State Gorillas, commonly referred to as Pitt State, are the athletic teams that represent Pittsburg State University. They are in the NCAA Division II as a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA). Th ...

, 36–31, to win their first Division II national title. The

Harlon Hill Trophy The Harlon Hill Trophy is an award in American college football given to the individual selected as the most valuable player in NCAA Division II. The award is named for former University of North Alabama and National Football League player Har ...

was awarded to Chad Friehauf, quarterback from Colorado Mines.

Conference changes and new programs

Regional realignment

The South Region was renamed the Southeast Region but stayed the same, while the Northeast Region lost the

GLIAC The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a competitive college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The GLIAC was founded in June 1972. Its ele ...

. The West Region lost the

GNAC gnac is a pseudonym used by songwriter and music producer Mark Tranmer.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 766 The name is derived from a short story by Italo Calvino in Marcovaldo titled ''Luna e GNAC'' ...

, gained the MIAA, and became the Southwest Region. The new Northwest Region contained the GLIAC and GNAC, plus the NCC and NSIC from the former Midwest Region.

Conference standings

Northeast Region

Southeast Region

Northwest Region

Southwest Region

Conference summaries

Postseason

The 2004

playoffs were the 31st 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 17th time. This was the first year of a 24-team playoff bracket.

Seeded teams

* Albany State * East Stroudsburg *

Michigan Tech Michigan Technological University (Michigan Tech, MTU, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Houghton, Michigan, founded in 1885 as the Michigan Mining School, the first post-secondary institution in the Upper Peninsula of Michiga ...

* Northwest Missouri State * Northwood * Pittsburg State * Shippensburg *

Valdosta State Valdosta State University (VSU or Valdosta State) is a public university in Valdosta, Georgia. It is one of the four comprehensive universities in the University System of Georgia. , VSU had over 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students. VSU a ...

Playoff bracket

* ''Home team'' † ''Overtime''

References

{{NCAA football season navbox