2003 NAIA football season

The 2003 NAIA football season was the component of the 2003 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 20, at Jim Carroll Stadium in Savannah, Tennessee. The Carroll Fighting Saints defeated the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers, 41–28, in the title game to win the program's second consecutive NAIA championship.

2003 NAIA football season
National Championship	Jim Carroll Stadium Savannah, TN December 20, 2003
Champion	Carroll (MT)
Player of the Year	Tyler Emmert (quarterback, Carroll (MT))

Conference standings

2003 Central States Football League standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 2 NW Oklahoma State $^   5 – 0     11 – 2   Peru State   3 – 2     7 – 4   Bacone   3 – 2     5 – 6   Langston   2 – 3     2 – 8   Haskell   1 – 4     3 – 6   SAGU   1 – 4     2 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll	2003 Dakota Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 5 Dickinson State $^   9 – 0     11 – 1   No. 6 Mary $   8 – 1     10 – 2   No. 18 Minot State   7 – 2     7 – 3   Black Hills State   5 – 4     5 – 4   Valley City State   4 – 5     5 – 5   Jamestown   4 – 5     4 – 6   Huron   3 – 6     4 – 6   South Dakota Mines   3 – 6     3 – 7   Dakota State   2 – 7     2 – 8   Mayville State   0 – 9     1 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll	2003 Frontier Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 1 Carroll (MT) $^   8 – 0     15 – 0   No. 24 Montana Western   6 – 2     7 – 4   Montana Tech   3 – 5     3 – 8   Rocky Mountain   2 – 6     2 – 8   Montana State–Northern   1 – 7     1 – 9   $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll
2003 Great Plains Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 3 Sioux Falls $^   10 – 0     12 – 1   No. 7 Northwestern (IA) ^   9 – 1     10 – 2   Hastings   6 – 4     6 – 4   No. 25 Midland Lutheran   6 – 4     6 – 4   Nebraska Wesleyan   6 – 4     6 – 4   Concordia (NE)   5 – 5     5 – 5   Dakota Wesleyan   4 – 6     5 – 6   Doane   4 – 6     4 – 6   Morningside   3 – 7     3 – 7   Dana   2 – 8     2 – 9   Briar Cliff   0 – 10     0 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll	2003 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 8 MidAmerica Nazarene $^   10 – 0     12 – 1   No. 12 Benedictine (KS) ^   9 – 1     9 – 3   Evangel   6 – 4     6 – 4   Avila   5 – 5     5 – 5   Graceland   5 – 5     5 – 5   Missouri Valley   5 – 5     5 – 5   Baker   4 – 6     4 – 6   Culver–Stockton   4 – 6     4 – 6   William Jewell   3 – 7     3 – 7   Lindenwood   2 – 8     3 – 8   Central Methodist   2 – 8     2 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll	2003 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 14 Ottawa $^   9 – 0     9 – 2   No. 17 Tabor ^   8 – 1     9 – 2   McPherson   5 – 4     6 – 4   Bethany (KS)   5 – 4     5 – 4   Southwestern (KS)   5 – 4     5 – 5   Kansas Wesleyan   4 – 5     4 – 6   Bethel (KS)   4 – 5     4 – 5   Friends   3 – 6     3 – 6   Saint Mary (KS)   2 – 7     2 – 8   Sterling   0 – 9     0 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll
2003 Mid-South Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 11 Georgetown (KY) ^   8 – 1     9 – 3   No. 10 Lambuth ^   8 – 1     9 – 3   No. 16 Campbellsville   7 – 2     9 – 2   No. 20 Cumberland (KY)   7 – 2     8 – 2   Pikeville   3 – 6     4 – 6   Union (KY)   3 – 6     4 – 7   Cumberland (TN)   3 – 6     3 – 7   Belhaven   2 – 7     4 – 7   Virginia–Wise   2 – 7     3 – 8   Bethel (TN)   2 – 7     2 – 9   – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll	2003 Mid-States Football Association standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Mideast League No. 4 Saint Francis (IN) x^   6 – 0     12 – 1   No. 22 Walsh   5 – 1     8 – 3   Geneva   4 – 2     7 – 4   Quincy   3 – 3     5 – 6   Urbana   2 – 4     3 – 8   Taylor   1 – 5     2 – 8   Malone   0 – 6     2 – 8   Midwest League No. 15 McKendree ^   5 – 2     8 – 3   No. 19 Trinity International x   5 – 2     8 – 3   No. 9 St. Ambrose x^   5 – 2     8 – 4   No. 21 Saint Xavier x   5 – 2     7 – 4   Olivet Nazarene x   5 – 2     6 – 4   William Penn   2 – 5     2 – 8   Iowa Wesleyan   1 – 6     1 – 9   St. Francis (IL)   0 – 7     1 – 9   x – League champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll	2003 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference football standings Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   North Martin Luther x   5 – 2     7 – 2   Northwestern (MN) x   5 – 2     6 – 4   Minnesota Morris   4 – 2     5 – 6   Crown   3 – 4     4 – 7   Trinity Bible   0 – 7     0 – 9   South Westminster (MO) x$   7 – 0     7 – 2   Rockford   5 – 1     7 – 3   Principia   2 – 5     3 – 6   Maranatha Baptist   2 – 5     2 – 7   Blackburn   1 – 6     2 – 8   $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions
2003 NAIA independents football records Conf Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 13 Azusa Pacific ^   –     8 – 2   Edward Waters   –     7 – 4   Texas College   –     7 – 3   Southern Oregon   –     5 – 4   Allen   –     4 – 6   Webber International   –     3 – 7   Paul Quinn   –     1 – 6   Southern Virginia   –     0 – 10   Waldorf   –     0 – 11   ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

Postseason

Main article: 2003 NAIA Football National Championship

Rankings

Main article: 2003 NAIA football rankings