2023 NAIA football season

2023 NAIA football season
2023 NAIA football season
Total No. of teams	95
Regular season	August 19 – November 11, 2023
Postseason	November 18 – December 18, 2023
National Championship	Durham County Memorial Stadium; Durham, NC; December 18, 2023

The 2023 NAIA football season is the component of the 2023 college football season organized by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in the United States.

The regular season will begin on August 19 and will culminate on November 11.^[1]

The playoffs, known as the NAIA Football National Championship, will begin on November 18 and culminate with the championship game on December 18 at Durham County Memorial Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.

Membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Arizona Christian Firestorm	Sooner	Frontier
Arkansas Baptist Buffaloes	Independent	Sooner
Evangel Valor	Heart of America	Kansas
Iowa Wesleyan Tigers	North Star	School closed
Lyon Scots	Sooner	NCAA Division III independent
Missouri Baptist Spartans	Mid-States	Heart of America
Pikeville Bears	Mid-South	Appalachian
Presentation Saints	North Star	School closed
Thomas Night Hawks	New program	Sun
Thomas More Saints	Mid-South	Great Midwest (NCAA D-II)
Trinity International Trojans	Mid-States	Dropped athletics

The NAIA Council of Presidents voted on and approved expanding the NAIA football playoffs from 16 to 20 teams effective for this season. Under the new format, there will be 13 automatic qualifiers, with 7 more at-large teams picked from the Top 25 teams in the final NAIA Coaches Poll, and the top 12 seeds will receive a bye in the first round.^[2]

2023 Appalachian Athletic Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 18 Reinhardt $^	6	–	0	8	–	3
Pikeville	5	–	1	7	–	3
Bluefield	3	–	3	5	–	5
Union (KY)	3	–	3	4	–	6
Point	3	–	3	4	–	7
Kentucky Christian	1	–	5	1	–	10
St. Andrews	0	–	6	0	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2023 Frontier Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 8 Montana Western $^	7	–	1	9	–	2
No. 10т College of Idaho ^	6	–	2	9	–	2
No. 17 Montana Tech ^	6	–	2	7	–	4
No. 24 Carroll (MT)	5	–	3	7	–	3
Southern Oregon	5	–	3	6	–	4
Rocky Mountain	4	–	4	6	–	4
Eastern Oregon	2	–	6	2	–	8
Arizona Christian	1	–	7	2	–	8
Montana State–Northern	0	–	8	1	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2023 Great Plains Athletic Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 Northwestern (IA) $^	10	–	0	12	–	0
No. 14 Dordt ^	8	–	2	9	–	3
No. 10т Morningside ^	8	–	2	9	–	3
Dakota Wesleyan	5	–	5	6	–	5
Midland	5	–	5	6	–	5
Concordia (NE)	5	–	5	5	–	5
Hastings	4	–	6	5	–	6
Briar Cliff	4	–	6	4	–	7
Mount Marty	2	–	8	3	–	8
Doane	2	–	8	2	–	9
Jamestown	2	–	8	2	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2023 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
North
No. 2 Grand View x^	5	–	0	11	–	0
Graceland	3	–	2	6	–	5
Peru State	3	–	2	5	–	6
William Penn	2	–	3	4	–	6
Clarke	2	–	3	3	–	8
Culver–Stockton	0	–	5	1	–	10
South
No. 22 MidAmerica Nazarene x	4	–	1	9	–	2
No. 20 Baker x^	4	–	1	9	–	3
No. 25 Benedictine (KS) x	4	–	1	8	–	3
Missouri Valley	2	–	3	5	–	5
Missouri Baptist	1	–	4	2	–	8
Central Methodist	0	–	5	1	–	10

x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2023 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
Bissell Division
Kansas Wesleyan x	5	–	1	8	–	3
Ottawa x^	5	–	1	6	–	6
Avila	4	–	2	4	–	7
Saint Mary (KS)	2	–	4	3	–	8
Tabor	2	–	4	3	–	8
Sterling	2	–	4	2	–	9
Kessinger Division
No. 9 Evangel x^	5	–	0	11	–	1
No. 23 Friends	4	–	1	9	–	2
Bethel (KS)	3	–	2	6	–	5
Southwestern (KS)	2	–	3	8	–	3
McPherson	1	–	4	5	–	6
Bethany (KS)	0	–	5	1	–	10

x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2023 Mid-South Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 4 Georgetown (KY) $^	6	–	0	9	–	1
No. 7 Bethel (TN) ^	5	–	1	11	–	1
No. 19 Lindsey Wilson	4	–	2	7	–	3
Cumberlands (KY)	2	–	4	6	–	4
Cumberland (TN)	2	–	4	5	–	5
Campbellsville	2	–	4	4	–	6
Faulkner	0	–	6	2	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2023 Mid-States Football Association standings

Team	W		L	W		L
Mideast League
No. 6 Indiana Wesleyan ^	6	–	1	10	–	1
No. 5 Marian (IN) x^	6	–	1	9	–	2
Saint Francis (IN)	5	–	2	6	–	4
Concordia (MI)	4	–	3	7	–	3
Siena Heights	4	–	3	6	–	4
Lawrence Tech	2	–	5	3	–	7
Taylor	1	–	6	2	–	9
Madonna	0	–	7	0	–	11
Midwest League
No. 10т Saint Xavier x^	5	–	0	8	–	3
Roosevelt	4	–	1	6	–	4
Olivet Nazarene	3	–	2	6	–	4
St. Francis (IL)	3	–	3	7	–	3
St. Ambrose	1	–	4	1	–	9
Judson	0	–	6	0	–	9

x – League champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2023 North Star Athletic Association football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 16 Dickinson State $^	8	–	0	10	–	2
Valley City State	6	–	2	7	–	3
Waldorf	3	–	5	4	–	6
Mayville State	2	–	6	2	–	9
Dakota State	1	–	7	1	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2023 Sooner Athletic Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 13 OUAZ +	7	–	1	8	–	1
No. 21 Louisiana Christian +^	7	–	1	9	–	2
Texas Wesleyan +	7	–	1	8	–	2
Langston	5	–	3	6	–	4
OK Panhandle State	4	–	4	5	–	5
SAGU	4	–	5	4	–	6
Arkansas Baptist	1	–	6	2	–	7
Wayland Baptist	1	–	7	2	–	8
Texas College	1	–	7	1	–	10

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2023 Sun Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 Keiser $^	7	–	0	9	–	2
No. 15 St. Thomas (FL) ^	6	–	1	9	–	4
Florida Memorial	5	–	2	6	–	4
Southeastern	4	–	3	5	–	5
Ave Maria	2	–	5	4	–	6
Webber International	2	–	5	3	–	6
Warner	1	–	6	4	–	6
Thomas	1	–	6	1	–	8

$ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

2023 NAIA independents football records

Team	W		L	W		L
North American		–		1	–	9

Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll


First Round November 18 Campus Sites		Second Round November 25 Campus Sites			Quarterfinals December 2nd Campus Sites			Semifinals December 9 Campus Sites		Championship December 18 Durham, North Carolina



		5	Marian (IN)	21

		12	Saint Xavier	31
					12	Saint Xavier	17

					1	Northwestern (IA)	34
		1	Northwestern (IA)	7

Dordt	35	16	Dordt	0
								1	Northwestern (IA)
Ottawa	7
								4	Georgetown (KY)
		6	Indiana Wesleyan	24

		10	Morningside	21
					6	Indiana Wesleyan	21

					4	Georgetown (KY)	31
		4	Georgetown (KY)	42

Baker	55	15	Baker	21

Louisiana Christian	28

		8	Montana Western	42

		11	College of Idaho	49
					11	College of Idaho	31

					2	Grand View	17
		2	Grand View	28

Montana Tech	28	14	Dickinson State	3
								11	College of Idaho
Dickinson State	35
								3	Keiser
		7	Bethel (TN)	40

		9	Evangel	13
					7	Bethel (TN)	14

					3	Keiser	56
		3	Keiser	45

St. Thomas (FL)	55	13	St. Thomas (FL)	21

Reinhardt	7

This list includes coaching changes announced during the season that did not take effect until the end of the season.

School	Outgoing coach	Date	Reason
Missouri Valley	Paul Troth	November 15, 2023	Resigned^[3]
SAGU	Greg Ellis	November 27, 2023	Resigned^[4]
Madonna	Herb Haygood	December 3, 2023	Accepted administration position^[5]

↑ "NAIA Football Scoreboard". NAIA.com. NAIA. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
↑ "Football Coaches Corner - 2023 Spring Update". NAIA.org. NAIA. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
↑ "Long-Time Head Football Coach Paul Troth Steps Down From Position". November 15, 2023. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
↑ "SAGU Head Football Coach Resigns". Southwestern Assemblies of God University. November 27, 2023. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
↑ "Haygood Moves to Administration". Madonna University Athletics. November 20, 2023. Retrieved December 4, 2023.

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