The 1971 NCAA College Division football season was the 16th season of

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

in the United States organized by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

at the

NCAA College Division The NCAA College Division was a historic subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) consisting of member schools competing at a lower level of college sports. The NCAA initially divided schools into a College Division and a ...

level.

Conference standings

Rankings

College Division teams (also referred to as "small college") were ranked in polls by the AP (a panel of writers) and by

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

(coaches). The national champion(s) for each season were determined by the final poll rankings, published at or near the end of the regular season, before any bowl games were played.

Small college final polls

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, who during the regular season had defeated

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

, Villanova, and

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, averaged 40 points per game, and had a 9–1 record, was ranked first by both UPI and AP; both polls also ranked McNeese State (9–0–1) second, and

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

(7–0–2) third. United Press International (coaches) final poll
Published on November 24 Associated Press (writers) final poll
Published on November 24

Bowl games

The postseason consisted of four

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

s as regional finals, all played on December 11. This was the first year for the

Pioneer Bowl Pioneer Bowl may refer to one of the following college football bowl games: * Pioneer Bowl (1971–1982), played in Wichita Falls, Texas, first as an NCAA College Division regional bowl game, then as a Division II postseason game, and finally as the ...

; it succeeded the

Pecan Bowl The Pecan Bowl was the name of two college football bowl games played in two different eras. The initial version, in 1946 and 1947, was contested by historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). The later version, held from 1964 through 197 ...

, which had been played in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...

. Top-ranked

met in the

Boardwalk Bowl The Boardwalk Bowl was a postseason college football game held indoors at the former Atlantic City Convention Hall (now Boardwalk Hall) in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from 1961 to 1973. History From 1961 through 1967, the Boardwalk Bowl feature ...

; played indoors at

Convention Hall Convention Hall was a convention center in Kansas City, Missouri that hosted the 1900 Democratic National Convention and 1928 Republican National Convention. Construction, burning, and reconstruction It was designed by Frederick E. Hill and b ...

, Delaware won by 50 points in a rout. The next two teams in the polls both lost;

was defeated by

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – Hig ...

in the

, and McNeese State fell to Tennessee State—led by future

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

quarterback

Joe Gilliam Joseph Wiley Gilliam Jr. (December 29, 1950December 25, 2000) was an American professional American football, football player, a quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. Primarily a backup ...

—in the

Grantland Rice Bowl The Grantland Rice Bowl was an annual college football bowl game held from 1964 through 1977. The game originated as an NCAA College Division regional final, then became a playoff game for Division II. It was named in honor of Grantland Rice, an ...

. Out west in the Camellia Bowl,

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho, United States. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It ...

mounted a 25–0 fourth quarter comeback to defeat

Chico State California State University, Chico (Chico State) is a public university in Chico, California. It was founded in 1887 as one of about 180 "normal schools" founded by state governments in the 19th century to train teachers for the rapidly growing ...

References

{{NCAA football season navbox

Conference standings

Rankings

Small college final polls

Bowl games

See also

References