1976 NCAA Division III football season

1976 NCAA Division III football season
Regular season	August – November 1976
Playoffs	November – December 1976
National championship	Garrett-Harrison Stadium Phenix City, AL
Champions	Saint John's (MN)
Division III football seasons « 1975 1977 »

The 1976 NCAA Division III football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division III level, began in August 1976, and concluded with the NCAA Division III Football Championship in December 1976 at Garrett-Harrison Stadium in Phenix City, Alabama. The St. John's (MN) Johnnies won their first Division III championship, defeating the Towson State Tigers by a final score of 31−28.

Conference and program changes

• The Virginia College Conference (now the Old Dominion Athletic Conference) began football play in 1976.

Conference champions

See also: List of NCAA Division III football seasons

Conference champions

College Athletic Conference – Sewanee College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin – Carroll (WI) Independent College Athletic Conference – Alfred Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Wiliam Penn Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Albion Middle Atlantic Conference – Albright (North), Franklin & Marshall (South) Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference – Cornell College, Knox, and Monmouth Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Saint John's (MN) New England Football Conference – Nichols New Jersey State Athletic Conference – Glassboro State Northwest Conference – Linfield Old Dominion Athletic Conference – Randolph-Macon Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – East Stroudsburg Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (Division III) – Fort Valley State Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Redlands Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Trinity (TX) Twin Rivers Conference – Concordia–St. Paul, Loras, Maranatha Baptist, Northwestern–St. Paul, and Northwestern (WI) Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Wisconsin–Oshkosh, Wisconsin–Platteville, and Wisconsin–River Falls

Postseason

The 1976 NCAA Division III Football Championship playoffs were the fourth annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division III college football. The championship game was held at Garrett-Harrison Stadium in Phenix City, Alabama for the fourth consecutive year. Like the previous championship, eight teams competed in this edition.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals Campus Sites					Semifinals Campus Sites					National Championship Game Garrett-Harrison Stadium Phenix City, AL
	Saint John's (MN)		46
	Augustana (IL)		7
						St. John's (MN)		61
						Buena Vista		0
	Buena Vista (OT)		20
	Carroll (WI)		14
											St. John's (MN)		31
											Towson State		28
	St. Lawrence		26
	Albright		7
						St. Lawrence		36
						Towson State		38
	Towson State		14
	C.W. Post		10

See also

• 1976 NAIA Division I football season
• 1976 NAIA Division II football season