Wisconsin–Stevens Point Pointers football

The Wisconsin–Stevens Point Pointers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin–Stevens Point competes at the NCAA Division III level and is a member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC).

Wisconsin–Stevens Point Pointers football
First season	1895; 130 years ago (1895)
Head coach	Luke Venne 4th season, 3–27 (.100)
Stadium	Goerke Field (capacity: 4,500)
Year built	1932
Location	Stevens Point, Wisconsin
NCAA division	Division III
Conference	WIAC
All-time record	504–464–44 (.520)
Unclaimed national titles	NAIA Div. II: 1 (1987)
National finalist	NAIA Div. II: 1 (1987)
Playoff appearances	7 (1 NAIA Div. I, 2 NAIA Div. II, 4 NCAA Div. III)
Playoff record	1–10 (.091)
Conference titles	14
Consensus All-Americans	5
Colors	Purple and gold[1]
Website	athletics.uwsp.edu/football

Championships

Conference championships

Wisconsin–Stevens Point has won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) championship 14 times.^[2]

Year	Coach	Overall record	WIAC record
1928†	Carl Eggebrecht	5–0–1	3–0–1
1933†	Eddie Kotal	7–0–1	4–0–1
1934†		7–1	5–0
1936†		3–3–1	2–1–1
1946†	George Berg	3–2–1	3–1–1
1949†	Hale Quandt	6–1–1	5–1
1955	John Roberts	8–0	6–0
1961	Duaine Counsell	8–1	7–1
1977	Ron Steiner	8–2–1	7–0–1
1986†	D. J. LeRoy	8–4	7–1
1987*		0–15*	0–8*
1998†	John Miech	7–2	5–2
1999†		9–2	6–1
2001†		8–3	5–2
2008†		9–2	6–1

† Co-champions

National championship

Year	Coach	Division	Opponent	Result	Record
1987*	D. J. LeRoy	NAIA Division II	Pacific Lutheran	T 16–16	0–15*

* The Pointers had a conference record of 7–1 and an overall record of 12–2–1 at the end of the 1987 season, all wins and ties were later vacated due to using two ineligible players. The conference title was retroactively awarded to Wisconsin–River Falls and Wisconsin–Whitewater as co–champions and Pacific Lutheran was retroactively awarded the national title outright^[3][4]

Postseason

NCAA Division III playoffs

Wisconsin–Stevens Point has participated in the NCAA Division III playoffs four times and has a 1–4 record.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result	Record
1986	First Round	Concordia–Moorhead	L 15–24	8–4
1999	First Round	Saint John's (MN)	L 10–23	9–2
2001	First Round	Bethel (MN)	W 37–27	8–3
	Second Round	Saint John's (MN)	L 7–9
2008	First Round	Wartburg	L 21–26	9–2

NAIA Division I playoffs

Wisconsin–Stevens Point participated in the NAIA Division I playoffs once in 1977, losing in the semifinals.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result	Record
1977	Semifinals	Abilene Christian (TX)	L 7–35	8–2–1

NAIA Division II playoffs

Wisconsin–Stevens Point has participated in the NAIA Division II playoffs twice, and was named co-champion in 1987 with Pacific Lutheran after playing to a 16–16 tie in the championship game. Later the Pointers forfeited their 12 wins and their share of the title after it was found they had used two ineligible players.^[5]

Year	Round	Opponent	Result	Record
1987	First Round	Westmar	W 50–24	0–15*
	Quarterfinals	Saint Ambrose	W 30–14
	Semifinals	Geneva	W 48–25
	Championship	Pacific Lutheran	T 16–16
1989	First Round	Wisconsin–La Crosse	L 20–30	8–2–1

*The Pointers had a record of 12–2–1 at the end of the 1987 season, the 0–15 record reflects 13 forfeits due to playing two ineligible players.

Ranked teams

Starting in 1999 the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) began publishing rankings for Division III football.^[6] In 2003, D3football.com started publishing its own rankings for Division III football.^[7] Since the inception of both polls, Wisconsin–Stevens Point has been ranked at least four times in the AFCA Coaches Poll and two times in the D3football.com poll to end the season. Additionally, while not being ranked in the Top 25 to end the season, the Pointers have received votes (RV) in both polls two additional years.

Year	D3	AFCA	Record
1999	N/A	19	9–2
2001	N/A	13	8–3
2002	N/A	RV	6–4
2003	18	23	8–2
2008	14	16	9–2
2009	RV	RV	7–3
2010	RV	Unknown	7–3

Border Battle

From 1984 to 2000 the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, home to the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Golden Gophers, hosted games in November between WIAC teams and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) teams at the NCAA Division II level in what came to be known as the "Border Battle".^[8] The Pointers played at the Metrodome three times, and had a 3–0 record.^[9]

Date	Opponent	Result
November 14, 1998	Southwest Minnesota State	W 28–16
November 20, 1999	Bemidji State	W 35–23
November 11, 2000	Winona State	W 30–25

Facilities

In 1995 the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League chose the university to host it's inaugural preseason training camp.^[10][11] Five other NFL teams used campuses across Wisconsin and Minnesota for training camp, in what was known as the Cheese League.

Notable former players

NFL draftees

Year	Round	Pick	Overall	Player	Team	Position
1966	16	14	244	Bob Schultz	Green Bay Packers	DE
1988	12	3	308	Aatron Kenney	Indianapolis Colts	WR
1990	9	22	242	Kirk Baumgartner	Green Bay Packers	QB
1991	10	8	258	Pete Lucas	Atlanta Falcons	T
1992	10	27	279	Barry Rose	Buffalo Bills	WR
1999	6	8	177	Clint Kriewaldt	Detroit Lions	LB
2017	1	32	32	Ryan Ramczyk	New Orleans Saints	OT
2022	2	25	57	Luke Goedeke	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	OT

Other notable former players

• Clayt Birmingham
• Bob Bostad
• Jake Dickert
• Ted Fritsch
• John Miech
• Jerry Olszewski