1959 NAIA football season

The 1959 NAIA football season, as part of the 1959 college football season in the United States, was the fourth season of college football sponsored by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The season was played from August to December 1959, culminating in the fourth annual NAIA Football National Championship, played this year again at Stewart Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. During its four years in St. Petersburg, the game was called the Holiday Bowl.

1959 NAIA football season
Regular season	August–December 1959
Postseason	December 5–19, 1959
National Championship	Stewart Field St. Petersburg, FL
Champion	Texas A&I

Texas A&I defeated Lenoir–Rhyne in the championship game, 20–7, to win their first NAIA national title.[1]

Conference standings

1959 Badger-Gopher Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Lakeland + 3 – 1 – 0     3 – 2 – 1 Northland + 3 – 1 – 0     3 – 5 – 0 Northwestern (WI) 2 – 2 – 0     5 – 2 – 0 Bethel (MN) 1 – 3 – 0     1 – 7 – 0 Milton 1 – 3 – 0     ? – ? – ? + – Conference co-champions	1959 Central Intercollegiate Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T St. Benedict's $ 5 – 0 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Pittsburg State 4 – 1 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Washburn 2 – 3 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Emporia State 2 – 3 – 0     2 – 7 – 0 Fort Hays State 1 – 4 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Omaha 1 – 4 – 0     1 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1959 Evergreen Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Whitworth $ 4 – 1 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 Puget Sound 3 – 1 – 1     6 – 1 – 1 Central Washington 3 – 2 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Western Washington 2 – 3 – 0     3 – 5 – 0 Eastern Washington 1 – 3 – 1     2 – 6 – 1 Pacific Lutheran 1 – 3 – 1     1 – 6 – 1 $ – Conference champion
1959 Frontier Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Arizona State–Flagstaff $ 3 – 0 – 0     6 – 2 – 1 Panhandle A&M 2 – 1 – 0     4 – 5 – 1 New Mexico Western 0 – 2 – 1     3 – 3 – 1 New Mexico Highlands 0 – 2 – 1     2 – 5 – 2 $ – Conference champion	1959 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Wartburg $ 8 – 0 – 0     8 – 1 – 0 Buena Vista 7 – 1 – 0     8 – 1 – 0 Luther 6 – 2 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Iowa Wesleyan 5 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Dubuque 4 – 4 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Parsons 3 – 5 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Central (IA) 2 – 6 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Upper Iowa 1 – 7 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 Simpson 0 – 8 – 0     0 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1959 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T College of Emporia $ 7 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 Ottawa 6 – 1 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Baker 5 – 2 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Kansas Wesleyan 3 – 3 – 1     3 – 5 – 1 McPherson 3 – 4 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Bethany (KS) 2 – 4 – 1     4 – 4 – 1 Friends 1 – 6 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 Bethel (KS) 0 – 7 – 0     0 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion
1959 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Hillsdale $^ 6 – 0 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Hope 5 – 1 – 0     8 – 1 – 0 Alma 4 – 2 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Albion 3 – 3 – 0     4 – 4 – 0 Olivet 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 5 – 0 Adrian 1 – 5 – 0     2 – 6 – 0 Kalamazoo 1 – 5 – 0     2 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant	1959 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Gustavus Adolphus $ 7 – 0 – 0     8 – 1 – 0 Concordia (MN) 6 – 1 – 0     7 – 2 – 0 Minnesota–Duluth 4 – 2 – 1     5 – 2 – 1 Saint John's (MN) 4 – 3 – 0     5 – 3 – 0 St. Thomas (MN) 3 – 3 – 1     4 – 3 – 1 Augsburg 2 – 5 – 0     3 – 5 – 0 Macalester 1 – 6 – 0     2 – 6 – 0 Hamline 0 – 7 – 0     0 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1959 Missouri College Athletic Union football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T William Jewell $ 3 – 0 – 0     8 – 1 – 0 Missouri Valley 2 – 1 – 0     7 – 2 – 0 Culver–Stockton 1 – 2 – 1     6 – 3 – 1 Tarkio 1 – 2 – 1     3 – 5 – 1 Central Methodist 0 – 2 – 0     0 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion
1959 Montana Collegiate Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Eastern Montana + 4 – 1 – 0     5 – 2 – 0 Rocky Mountain + 4 – 1 – 0     4 – 2 – 0 Carroll (MT) 3 – 2 – 0     4 – 4 – 0 Western Montana 3 – 2 – 0     5 – 2 – 1 Montana Northern 1 – 4 – 0     1 – 6 – 0 Montana Mines 0 – 5 – 0     ? – ? – ? + – Conference co-champions	1959 Nebraska College Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Kearney State $ 7 – 0 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Peru State 6 – 1 – 0     7 – 1 – 0 Chadron State 5 – 2 – 0     6 – 2 – 0 Doane 5 – 3 – 1     5 – 3 – 1 Nebraska Wesleyan 4 – 3 – 1     5 – 3 – 1 Wayne State (NE) 4 – 3 – 1     4 – 4 – 1 Hastings 2 – 2 – 3     3 – 2 – 3 Concordia (NE) 2 – 6 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Dana 0 – 7 – 0     0 – 8 – 0 Midland 0 – 8 – 0     0 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1959 North Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Mayville State $ 5 – 0 – 1     6 – 0 – 1 Dickinson State 4 – 2 – 0     5 – 2 – 0 Minot State 2 – 2 – 2     3 – 2 – 2 Valley City State 3 – 3 – 0     4 – 3 – 0 Wahpeton Science 2 – 2 – 2     2 – 2 – 2 Jamestown 1 – 4 – 1     2 – 5 – 1 Ellendale 1 – 5 – 0     2 – 5 – 0 $ – Conference champion
1959 North State Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Lenoir–Rhyne $^ 6 – 0 – 0     10 – 1 – 0 Appalachian State 5 – 1 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Western Carolina 4 – 2 – 0     7 – 2 – 1 East Carolina 3 – 3 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Catawba 2 – 4 – 0     2 – 7 – 1 Guilford 1 – 5 – 0     2 – 7 – 0 Elon 0 – 6 – 0     1 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant	1959 Oklahoma Collegiate Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Langston $ 6 – 0 – 0     7 – 1 – 0 Central State (OK) 5 – 1 – 0     8 – 1 – 0 East Central 4 – 2 – 0     8 – 4 – 0 SW Oklahoma State 3 – 3 – 0     3 – 6 – 1 Northeastern State 2 – 4 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 NW Oklahoma State 1 – 5 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 SE Oklahoma State 0 – 6 – 0     0 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1959 Oregon Collegiate Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Oregon Tech $ 4 – 0 – 0     5 – 1 – 0 Southern Oregon 3 – 1 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Eastern Oregon 2 – 2 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Portland State 1 – 3 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 Oregon College 0 – 4 – 0     1 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion
1959 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Huron + 7 – 1 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 Southern State + 7 – 1 – 0     7 – 2 – 0 General Beadle 5 – 2 – 1     5 – 2 – 1 Northern State 5 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Dakota Wesleyan 3 – 4 – 1     3 – 5 – 1 South Dakota Tech 3 – 4 – 0     3 – 4 – 0 Sioux Falls 2 – 5 – 0     2 – 5 – 0 Black Hills 1 – 6 – 0     1 – 6 – 0 Yankton 0 – 7 – 0     0 – 8 – 0 + – Conference co-champions

Postseason

	Semifinals December 5, 1959					Championship December 19, 1959 Holiday Bowl[2]
	Hillsdale		0
	Texas A&I*		20
						Texas A&I		20
						Lenoir–Rhyne		7
	Southern Connecticut State		20
	Lenoir–Rhyne*		47

References

1. "NAIA Championship History" (PDF). NAIA. pp. 4–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
2. "1959 NAIA Football Playoffs". JonFMorse.com. Retrieved November 13, 2015.