The 1988 NCAA Division III football season, part of the college football season organized by the NCAA at the Division III level in the United States, began in August 1988, and concluded with the NCAA Division III Football Championship, also known as the Stagg Bowl, in December 1988 at Garrett-Harrison Stadium in Phenix City, Alabama. The Ithaca Bombers won their third Division III championship by defeating the Central (IA) Dutch, 39−24.
Conference Changes The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference upgraded all its teams to Division II this year instead of having teams competing at both the Division II and Division III levels. Miles College, Lane College, and Knoxville College thus upgraded from Division III to Division II. The Atlantic Collegiate Football Conference formed with five teams that had formerly competed as either independents or club teams. The conference would be short-lived, lasting until 1991. New York Maritime cancelled their season in October of 1988 after playing six games. They would not return to the gridiron until 2005. Six schools in Massachusetts upgraded their programs from club teams to varsity in 1988. UMass Boston and Southeastern Massachusetts both joined the NEFC, while Assumption, Bentley, MIT, and Stonehill all joined as independents before joining the ECFC in 1989.
School 1987 Conference 1988 Conference Assumption Club Program D-III Independent Bentley Club Program D-III Independent Brooklyn D-III Independent ACFC Gallaudet D-III Independent ACFC Maritime D-III Independent ACFC Maryville (TN) ODAC D-III Independent MIT Club Program D-III Independent Saint Peter's D-III Independent Cancelled Season Siena Club Program ACFC St. John Fisher D-III Independent ACFC Stonehill Club Program D-III Independent Southeastern Massachusetts Club Program NEFC Stony Brook D-III Independent Liberty UMass Boston Club Program NEFC Upsala MAC D-III Independent
Conference standings
Conference champions Conference championsCentennial Conference – Dickinson and Franklin & Marshall College Athletic Conference – Rose–Hulman College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin – Augustana (IL) and Carroll (WI) Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Simpson Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Adrian and Alma Middle Atlantic Conference – Moravian and Widener Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference – St. Norbert Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Concordia–Moorhead and Hamline New England Football Conference – Plymouth State New Jersey State Athletic Conference – Trenton State North Coast Athletic Conference – Allegheny Ohio Athletic Conference – Baldwin Wallace and Wittenberg Old Dominion Athletic Conference – Emory & Henry Presidents' Athletic Conference – Washington & Jefferson Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Occidental Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Austin Upper Midwest Athletic Conference – Concordia–Saint Paul Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Wisconsin–Whitewater
Postseason The 1988 NCAA Division III Football Championship playoffs were the 16th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division III college football. The championship Stagg Bowl game was held at Garrett-Harrison Stadium in Phenix City, Alabama for the 14th time and for the fourth consecutive year. Like the previous three tournaments, this year's bracket featured sixteen teams.
Playoff bracket
See also 1988 NCAA Division I-A football season 1988 NCAA Division I-AA football season 1988 NCAA Division II football season
References