# 2002 NAIA football season

The 2002 NAIA football season was the component of the 2002 college football season organized by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in the United States. The season's playoffs, known as the NAIA Football National Championship, culminated with the championship game on December 21, at Jim Carroll Stadium in Savannah, Tennessee. The Carroll Fighting Saints defeated the Georgetown Tigers, 28–7, in the title game to win the program's first NAIA championship.

## Conference standings

2002 Central States Football League standings :
| 2002 Central States Football League standings vteConfOverall Team W L W L  No. 5 NW Oklahoma State $^  4 –0  11 –1   Bacone  3 –1  6 –5   Langston  2 –2  2 –9   Peru State  1 –3  2 –8   Haskell  0 –4  2 –7   $ – Conference champion^ – NAIA playoff participantRankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll | 2002 Dakota Athletic Conference football standings vteConfOverall Team W L W L  No. 10 Dickinson State +^  8 –1  9 –2   No. 7 Mary +^  8 –1  9 –2   No. 13 Minot State +^  8 –1  9 –2   Valley City State  6 –3  7 –3   Jamestown  5 –4  5 –5   Huron  3 –6  3 –7   Mayville State  2 –7  3 –7   Black Hills State  2 –7  2 –8   South Dakota Mines  2 –7  2 –8   Dakota State  1 –8  1 –9   + – Conference co-champions^ – NAIA playoff participantRankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll | 2002 Frontier Conference football standings vteConfOverall Team W L W L  No. 1 Carroll (MT) $^  7 –1  12 –2   No. 15 Montana Western ^  7 –1  9 –3   Montana Tech  3 –5  4 –7   Rocky Mountain  2 –6  2 –8   Montana State–Northern  1 –7  1 –9   $ – Conference champion^ – NAIA playoff participantRankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll |
| 2002 Great Plains Athletic Conference football standings vteConfOverall Team W L W L  No. 3 Sioux Falls $^  8 –0  12 –1   No. 17 Doane  6 –2  7 –3   No. 24 Hastings  5 –3  7 –3   Concordia (NE)  5 –3  5 –5   Northwestern (IA)  4 –4  6 –4   Nebraska Wesleyan  4 –4  6 –4   Midland Lutheran  3 –5  4 –7   Dakota Wesleyan  1 –7  3 –7   Dana  0 –8  2 –9   $ – Conference champion^ – NAIA playoff participantRankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll | 2002 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings vteConfOverall Team W L W L  No. 9 MidAmerica Nazarene $^  9 –1  9 –2   No. 12 Benedictine (KS) ^  8 –2  9 –3   No. 19 Evangel  8 –2  8 –2   No. 20 Missouri Valley  8 –2  8 –2   William Jewell  6 –4  6 –5   Central Methodist  4 –6  5 –6   Avila  4 –6  4 –6   Culver–Stockton  4 –6  4 –7   Baker  3 –7  3 –8   Lindenwood  1 –9  1 –10   Graceland  0 –10  0 –10   $ – Conference champion^ – NAIA playoff participantRankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll | 2002 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings vteConfOverall Team W L W L  No. 18 Kansas Wesleyan $^  8 –1  8 –2   Bethany (KS)  6 –3  6 –3   McPherson  5 –4  6 –4   Tabor  5 –4  6 –4   Friends  5 –4  5 –4   Saint Mary (KS)  5 –4  5 –4   Ottawa  5 –4  5 –5   Southwestern (KS)  5 –4  5 –5   Bethel (KS)  1 –8  1 –8   Sterling  0 –9  0 –10   $ – Conference champion^ – NAIA playoff participantRankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll |
| 2002 Mid-South Conference football standings vteConfOverall Team W L W L  No. 2 Georgetown (KY) $^  8 –0  12 –2   No. 23 Cumberland (TN)  6 –2  6 –4   Lambuth  5 –3  6 –4   Pikeville  4 –4  6 –4   Belhaven  4 –4  5 –5   Campbellsville  3 –5  4 –6   Cumberland (KY)  3 –5  4 –6   Virginia–Wise  2 –6  3 –7   Union (KY)  1 –7  2 –8   $ – Conference champion^ – NAIA playoff participantRankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll | 2002 Mid-States Football Association standings vteConfOverall Team W L W L  Mideast League No. 8 Saint Francis (IN) x^  6 –0  11 –1   No. 21 Tri-State  5 –1  6 –3   No. 22 Walsh  4 –2  8 –3   Geneva  3 –3  7 –5   Malone  2 –4  4 –6   Taylor  1 –5  3 –7   Urbana  1 –5  1 –10   Midwest League No. 4 McKendree x^  6 –1  11 –2   No. 11 Saint Xavier x^  6 –1  9 –3   No. 14 St. Ambrose x^  6 –1  8 –3   Olivet Nazarene  4 –3  4 –6   Trinity International  3 –4  6 –5   William Penn  2 –5  4 –7   St. Francis (IL)  1 –6  2 –8   Iowa Wesleyan  0 –7  1 –9   x – League champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participantRankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll | 2002 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference football standings vteConfOverall Team W L W L  North Northwestern (MN) x  3 –0  8 –2   Martin Luther  2 –1  6 –3   Crown  1 –2  2 –7   Trinity Bible  0 –3  0 –9   South Maranatha Baptist x  4 –0  6 –3   Westminster (MO)  3 –1  7 –2   Principia  2 –2  5 –4   Rockford  1 –3  4 –6   Blackburn  0 –4  1 –8   x – Division champion/co-champions |
| 2002 NAIA independents football records vteConfOverall Team W L W L  No. 16 Azusa Pacific   –  9 –1   No. 6 Southern Oregon ^   –  8 –3   Paul Quinn   –  7 –4   Edward Waters   –  6 –4   Morningside   –  5 –5   Allen   –  0 –7   ^ – NAIA playoff participantRankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll |