The 1977 NAIA Division I football season was the 22nd 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 ...

sponsored by the NAIA, was the eighth season of play of the NAIA's top division for football. The season was played from August to November 1977 and culminated in the 1977 NAIA Division I Football National Championship. Known this year as the Apple Bowl, the title game was played on December 10, 1977 at the

Kingdome The Kingdome (officially the King County Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Industrial District, Seattle, Industrial District (later SoDo, Seattle, SoDo) neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. O ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. Abilene Christian defeated Southwestern Oklahoma State in the Apple Bowl, 24–7, to win their second NAIA national title.

Conference realignment

Conference changes

* This is the final season that the NAIA officially recognizes a football champion from the

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC ) is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and the Mid-A ...

Conference realignment

Conference changes

Membership changes

Conference standings

Conference champions

Postseason

See also

References