National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Football

Homepage: http://naia.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/naia-m-footbl-body.html

History:
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) started off as the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) founded in 1940. It was only in 1952 when NAIB restructured to become the NAIA, which began to sponsor more sports.

NAIA started sponsoring football championships in 1956, and continued supporting championship games annually since then. In 1970, NAIA instituted plan in two divisions – Divisions I and II, with a championship played in each division. However, in 1997, NAIA, thought it best to consolidate the two teams into one division.

Through the years, the NAIA championship games has been known for a number of names: Aluminum Bowl (1956), Apple Bowl (1977, Division I game only), Champion Bowl (1964-1976 and 1980-1996, Division I games only), Holiday Bowl (1957-1960, not to be confused with the NCAA Division I bowl of the same name), and Palm Bowl (1978-1979, Division I games only).