1963 NCAA College Division football season

1963 NCAA College Division football season
Champions	Northern Illinois (AP) Delaware (UPI) Prairie View A&M (black)
College football seasons « 1962 1964 »

The 1963 NCAA College Division football season was played by American football teams representing 299 colleges and universities recognized the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as minor programs. The remaining 120 colleges and universities that were NCAA members and fielded football teams competed in the 1963 NCAA University Division football season.

Conference standings

Template:1963 Big Sky Conference football standings	Template:1963 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings	Template:1963 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Template:1963 Central Intercollegiate Conference football standings	Template:1963 College Athletic Conference football standings	Template:1963 College Conference of Illinois football standings
Template:1963 Far Western Conference football standings	1963 Gulf States Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T McNeese State $ 5 – 0 – 0     8 – 0 – 0 Louisiana Tech 3 – 2 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Southeastern Louisiana 3 – 2 – 0     4 – 4 – 1 Northwestern State 2 – 3 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Southwestern Louisiana 1 – 4 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Northeast Louisiana State 1 – 4 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion	Template:1963 Hoosier Conference football standings
Template:1963 Indiana Collegiate Conference football standings	Template:1963 Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings	Template:1963 Iowa Conference football standings
Template:1963 Lone Star Conference football standings	Template:1963 Mason–Dixon Conference football standings	Template:1963 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
1963 Mid-American Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Ohio $ 5 – 1 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Miami (OH) 4 – 1 – 1     5 – 3 – 2 Bowling Green 4 – 2 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Marshall 3 – 2 – 1     5 – 4 – 1 Western Michigan 2 – 4 – 0     2 – 7 – 0 Kent State 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 5 – 1 Toledo 1 – 5 – 0     2 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion	Template:1963 Mid-Ohio Conference football standings	Template:1963 Middle Atlantic Conference football standings
Template:1963 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings	Template:1963 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings	Template:1963 North Central Conference football standings
Template:1963 Northern Intercollegiate Conference football standings	Template:1963 Ohio Athletic Conference football standings	Template:1963 Ohio Valley Conference football standings
Template:1963 Pennsylvania State College Conference football standings	Template:1963 Presidents' Athletic Conference football standings	Template:1963 Rocky Mountain Conference football standings
Template:1963 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings	Template:1963 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings	Template:1963 Wisconsin State College Conference football standings
1963 Yankee Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T UMass $ 5 – 0 – 0     8 – 0 – 1 Maine 3 – 2 – 0     5 – 3 – 0 Rhode Island 2 – 3 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Vermont 2 – 2 – 0     6 – 2 – 0 Connecticut 1 – 3 – 0     2 – 6 – 0 New Hampshire 1 – 4 – 0     2 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	Template:1963 NCAA College Division independents football records

Rankings

Main article: 1963 NCAA College Division football rankings

Small college poll

In 1963, both United Press International (UPI) and the Associated Press (AP) conducted "small college" polls, and selected different number one teams. UPI's panel of coaches selected Delaware, who had a record of 8–0 and had outscored their opponents 290–76 while winning all their games by at least 9 points. The AP's panel of sportswriters selected Northern Illinois, who finished the regular season at 9–0 including three shutouts. The Huskies went on to defeat Southwest Missouri State in the Mineral Water Bowl, 21–14.

After the season ended, the NCAA announced plans to play "four postseason regional games" in 1964. These were played from 1964 through 1972. However, not until 1973, when the NCAA College Division was reorganized as NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III, did these postseason games to determine a national champion.

Associated Press (writers) final poll
Published on November 29

Rank	School	Record	No. 1 votes	Total points
1	Northern Illinois	9–0	3	63
2	Delaware	8–0	3	53
3	Wittenberg	8–0–1		38
4	UMass	7–0–1		37
5	Saint John's (MN)	8–0		35
6	South Dakota State	9–1		33
7	Florida A&M	7–1		24
8	Abilene Christian	7–1		18
9	Southwest Texas State	10–0	1	10
10	McNeese State	8–0		9

Denotes team played a game after UPI poll, hence record differs in AP poll
^note1 UMass was actually 8–0–1 when the poll was taken.

United Press International (coaches) final poll
Published on December 4

Rank	School	Record	No. 1 votes	Total points
1	Delaware	8–0	18	309
2	Northern Illinois	10–0	8	286
3	UMass	8–0–1	1	160
4	Saint John's (MN)	9–0	1	158
5	Wittenberg	8–0–1		153
6	Florida A&M	8–2	1	141
7	San Diego State	7–2	1	101
8	Western Kentucky	8–0–1	2	78
9	Northeastern State	10–0		57
10	Southwest Missouri State	9–1		55

^note2 Florida A&M actually 7–2 when the poll was taken.

See also

• 1963 NCAA University Division football season
• 1963 NAIA football season