The 1976 NCAA Division II football rankings are from the Associated Press and Jet. This is for the 1976 NCAA Division II football season.
| Increase in ranking | ||
| Decrease in ranking | ||
| Not ranked previous week | ||
(#–#)
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Win–loss record | |
(Italics)
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Number of first place votes | |
т
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Tied with team above or below also with this symbol |
| Week 1 Sept 22[1] | Week 2 Sept 29[2] | Week 3 Oct 6[3] | Week 4 Oct 13[4] | Week 5 Oct 20[5] | Week 6 Oct 27[6] | Week 7 Nov 3[7] | Week 8 Nov 10[8] | Week 9 Nov 17[9] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Northern Michigan (3–0) | Northern Michigan (4–0) | Northern Michigan (5–0) | Northern Michigan (6–0) | Northern Michigan (7–0) | Northern Michigan (8–0) | Northern Michigan (9–0) | Northern Michigan (10–0) | Montana State (9–1) | 1. |
| 2. | Alcorn State (2–0) | Alcorn State (3–0) | UNLV (4–0) | Delaware (4–1) | Southern (6–0) | Alcorn State (5–1) | Alcorn State (6–1) | Alcorn State (7–1) | Northern Michigan (10–1) | 2. |
| 3. | Montana State (2–0) | Tennessee State (4–0) | Western Illinois (4–0) | Southern (5–0) | Alcorn State (4–1) | Akron (6–1) | Montana State (7–1) | Montana State (8–1) | Akron (8–2) | 3. |
| 4. | New Hampshire (2–0) | UNLV (3–0) | Delaware (3–1) | Alcorn State (4–1) | Delaware (4–1–1) | Montana State (6–1) т | Tennessee State (7–1) | Delaware (6–2–1) | Delaware (7–2–1) | 4. |
| 5. | Tennessee State (2–0) | Western Illinois (3–0) | Troy State (4–0–1) | Akron (4–1) т | Akron (5–1) т | Southern (6–1) т | Delaware (5–2–1) | Akron (7–2) | Eastern Kentucky (7–2) | 5. |
| 6. | Western Carolina (3–0) | Lehigh (3–0) | Southern (4–0) | UNLV (4–1) т | UNLV (5–1) т | Tennessee Tech (6–1) | Northern Arizona (6–1) | South Carolina State (8–1) | Troy State (8–1–1) | 6. |
| 7. | Delta State (2–0) | Jacksonville State (3–0) | Alcorn State (3–1) т | Tennessee State (5–1) | Montana State (5–1) | Tennessee State (6–1) | Western Illinois (7–1) | Eastern Kentucky (7–2) | UNLV (8–2) | 7. |
| 8. | UMass (2–0) [note 1] | Western Kentucky (2–0–1) | Eastern Illinois (4–0) т | Montana State (4–1) | Eastern Kentucky (5–1) | Delaware (4–2–1) | Akron (6–2) т | Troy State (7–1–1) | Alcorn State (7–2) т | 8. |
| 9. | UNLV (2–0) [note 2] | Troy State (3–0–1) | Lehigh (3–1) | Eastern Kentucky (5–1) т | Tennessee Tech (5–1) | Western Illinois (6–1) | South Carolina State (7–1) т | UNLV (7–2) | South Carolina State (9–1) т | 9. |
| 10. | North Carolina A&T (2–0) т | Cal State Northridge (3–0) т [note 3] | Santa Clara (4–0) | Western Illinois (4–1) т | Tennessee State (5–1) т | Northern Arizona (5–1) | Troy State (6–1–1) | Western Illinois (7–2) | New Hampshire (8–2) т | 10. |
| 11. | Western Illinois (2–0) т | Eastern Illinois (3–0) т | Western Illinois (5–1) т | North Dakota State (8–2) т | 11. | |||||
| Week 1 Sept 22[1] | Week 2 Sept 29[2] | Week 3 Oct 6[3] | Week 4 Oct 13[4] | Week 5 Oct 20[5] | Week 6 Oct 27[6] | Week 7 Nov 3[7] | Week 8 Nov 10[8] | Week 9 Nov 17[9] | ||
Dropped:
| Dropped:
| Dropped:
| None | Dropped:
| Dropped:
| Dropped:
| Dropped: 10 Western Illinois | |||
Jet magazine ranked the top 1976 teams from historically black colleges and universities based on a poll of coaches and conference commissioners.
The poll was published on December 16.[10]
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| Pre-divisional |
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| NCAA University Division |
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| NCAA Division I |
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| NCAA Division I-A/FBS |
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| NCAA Division I-AA/FCS |
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| Small college |
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| NCAA Division II |
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| NCAA Division III |
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| Polls |
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