1972 NAIA Division I football season
American college football season
The 1972 NAIA Division I football season was the 17th season of college football sponsored by the NAIA and the third season of the league's two-division structure.
The season was played from August to November 1972 and culminated in the 1972 NAIA Champion Bowl, played on December 9, 1972 in Commerce, Texas.
East Texas State defeated Carson–Newman in the Division I Championship Bowl, 21–18, to win their first NAIA national title.
Conference realignment
Conference changes
This was the first season of play for the Great Plains Athletic Conference, which consisted of seven former members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference from Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska.
Membership changes
Conference standings
Postseason
† The game ended in a tie, and a tiebreaker system was used to determine which team advanced to the final. The first tiebreaker step was first downs, and each team had 11. The second tiebreaker step was offensive penetrations inside the opponent's 20-yard line, which favored Carson–Newman, 2–1.
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