The 1978 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level, began in August 1978, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship in December 1978 at Lobo Stadium in Longview, Texas.
The Eastern Illinois Panthers defeated the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens, 10–9, to win their first Division II national title.
[1] † While the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) was a Division II conference, Florida A&M (FAMU) had successfully petitioned the NCAA for Division I classification (Division I-AA in football), which took effect on September 1, 1978.
The 1978 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the sixth single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football.
The championship game was held at Lobo Stadium in Longview, Texas for the first time.