1997 NCAA Division III football season

1997 NCAA Division III football season
Regular season	August – November 1997
Playoffs	November – December 1997
National championship	Salem Football Stadium Salem, VA
Champions	Mount Union (3)
Gagliardi Trophy	Bill Borchert (QB), Mount Union
Division III football seasons « 1996 1998 »

The 1997 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 1997, and concluded with the NCAA Division III Football Championship, also known as the Stagg Bowl, in December 1997 at Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia. The Mount Union Purple Raiders won their third, and second consecutive, Division III championship by defeating the Lycoming Warriors, 61−12.

The Gagliardi Trophy, given to the most outstanding player in Division III football, was awarded to Bill Borchert, quarterback from Mount Union.

Conference champions

See also: List of NCAA Division III football seasons

Conference champions

American Southwest Conference – Mississippi College Centennial Conference – McDaniel College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin – Augustana (IL) Freedom Football Conference – Coast Guard and Springfield Illini-Badger Football Conference – Lakeland Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference – Hanover Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Simpson Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Hope Middle Atlantic Conference – Albright and Lycoming Midwest Conference – Carroll (WI) Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Augsburg New England Football Conference – Bridgewater State and Worcester State New Jersey Athletic Conference – Rowan North Coast Athletic Conference – Allegheny, Wittenberg, and Wooster Northwest Conference – Willamette Ohio Athletic Conference – Mount Union Old Dominion Athletic Conference – Emory & Henry, Guilford, and Randolph-Macon Presidents' Athletic Conference – Grove City Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – California Lutheran, Redlands, and Whittier Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference – Trinity (TX) University Athletic Association – Carnegie Mellon Upper Midwest Athletic Conference – Not available Upstate Collegiate Athletic Conference – RPI Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Wisconsin–Whitewater

Postseason

The 1997 NCAA Division III Football Championship playoffs were the 25th 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 Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia for the second time. As of 2014, Salem has remained the yearly host of the Stagg Bowl. Like the previous twelve tournaments, this year's bracket featured sixteen teams.

Playoff bracket

	Regionals Campus Sites					Quarterfinals Campus Sites					Semifinals Campus Sites					National Championship Game Salem Football Stadium Salem, Virginia
	Mount Union		34
	Allegheny		30
						Mount Union		59
						John Carroll		7
	John Carroll		30
	Hanover		20
											Mount Union		54
											Simpson		7
	Simpson		34
	Wisconsin–Whitewater		31
						Simpson		61
						Augsburg		21
	Augsburg		34
	Concordia–Moorhead		22
																Mount Union		61
																Lycoming		12
	Lycoming		27
	McDaniel		13
						Lycoming		46
						Trinity (TX)		26
	Trinity (TX)		44
	Catholic		33
											Lycoming		28
											Rowan		20
	Rowan		43
	Coast Guard		0
						Rowan		13
						TCNJ		7
	TCNJ		34
	SUNY Cortland		30

See also

• 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season
• 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season
• 1997 NCAA Division II football season