The 2002 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 2002, and concluded with the NCAA Division III Football Championship, also known as the Stagg Bowl, in December 2002 at Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia. The Mount Union Purple Raiders won their seventh, and third consecutive, Division III championship by defeating the Trinity (TX) Tigers, 48−7.
The Gagliardi Trophy, given to the most outstanding player in Division III football, was awarded to Dan Pugh, running back from Mount Union.
Conference changes and new programs Name changes Before the start of the season, Western Maryland College changed its name to McDaniel College. Its football program thus changed from the Western Maryland Green Terror to the McDaniel Green Terror. The team remained a member of the Centennial Conference.
Conference standings
Conference champions Conference championsAmerican Southwest Conference – Mary Hardin–Baylor Atlantic Central Football Conference – Frostburg State Centennial Conference – Johns Hopkins, McDaniel, and Muhlenberg College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin – Wheaton (IL) Dixie Intercollegiate Football Conference – Christopher Newport and Ferrum Empire 8 Conference – Ithaca Freedom Football Conference – Springfield Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference – Hanover Illini-Badger Football Conference – MacMurray Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Central (IA), Coe, and Wartburg Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Alma Middle Atlantic Conference – King's College and Widener Midwest Conference – Lake Forest and St. Norbert Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Saint John's (MN) New England Football Conference – Westfield State (Bogan Division), UMass Dartmouth (Boyd Division) Championship Game: UMass Dartmouth 16, Westfield State 0 New England Small College Athletic Conference – Trinity (CT) and Williams New Jersey Athletic Conference – Rowan North Coast Athletic Conference – Wabash Northwest Conference – Linfield Ohio Athletic Conference – Mount Union Old Dominion Athletic Conference – Bridgewater Presidents' Athletic Conference – Washington & Jefferson Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Redlands Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference – Trinity (TX) University Athletic Association – Washington–Saint Louis Upper Midwest Athletic Conference – Northwestern–St. Paul Upstate Collegiate Athletic Conference – Hobart Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Wisconsin–La Crosse
Postseason The 2002 NCAA Division III Football Championship playoffs were the 30th 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 10th time. This was the fourth bracket to feature 28 teams since last expanding in 1999.
Playoff bracket
* Overtime
See also 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season 2002 NCAA Division I-AA football season 2002 NCAA Division II football season
References