NAIA Football

[theshadow]

This will be the 5th consecutive year that a team from Iowa is in the NAIA Championship game.

2018 - Morningside (champ)
2019 - Morningside (champ)
2020 - Northwestern (runner-up)
2021 - Morningside (champ), Grand View (runner-up)
2022 - Northwestern vs. Keiser (Fla.) [Dec. 17, Durham, N.C.]

#3 Northwestern is 12-1, with their only loss by 1 to Morningside in the season opener.

Keiser (10-3) beat #1 Morningside in Sioux City in the quarters, and beat #2 Grand View today in Des Moines in the semis.

 

[BCClone]

My son was recruited to play strong safety there but decided to call it. Would have been a senior this year.

 

[gocy444]

You peaked my curiosity. Didn’t realize NAIA wasn’t a nationwide thing. Looks like it’s primarily a Midwest deal with a few outliers.

 

[ChiClone17]

NAIA is definitely a national thing. Tons of schools coast to coast, including FL and CA.

 

[jackrabbit]

NAIA is definitely a national thing. Tons of schools coast to coast, including FL and CA.

There are 9 NAIA Conferences And 4 independents. The majority are from KT, IN, IL, IA, SD, ND, NE, KS, MO. Looks like nothing in the Northeast or Southern rockies to CA. A handful in TX and FL

 

[Aduhbolu15]

This will be the 5th consecutive year that a team from Iowa is in the NAIA Championship game.

2018 - Morningside (champ)
2019 - Morningside (champ)
2020 - Northwestern (runner-up)
2021 - Morningside (champ), Grand View (runner-up)
2022 - Northwestern vs. Keiser (Fla.) [Dec. 17, Durham, N.C.]

#3 Northwestern is 12-1, with their only loss by 1 to Morningside in the season opener.

Keiser (10-3) beat #1 Morningside in Sioux City in the quarters, and beat #2 Grand View today in Des Moines in the semis.

And 7 of the last 11 years

 

[CyGuy5]

Northwestern student here… hoping they can get the job done!

 

[cyfanatic13]

Don't feel like starting a new thread but should probably give Wartburg a shout out in here too. Won today to make it to the D3 semis for the first time in school history. Some quality football being played at the lower levels in Iowa this fall

 

[theshadow]

Wartburg gets Mount Union next Saturday. Location TBA.

 

[Nococy]

Northwestern student here… hoping they can get the job done!

Coached Grover and Storey thei freshman and sophomore years of high school in Spencer. Hopefully they can finish the deal. Proud of the guys!

 

[clonehome]

Are DIII and NAIA pretty much the same level of competition? Do trams in those divisions ever play each other? Why would a school choose to be in one or the other division? I’ve never understood why NAIA exists.

 

[CycloneBax]

Are DIII and NAIA pretty much the same level of competition? Do trams in those divisions ever play each other? Why would a school choose to be in one or the other division? I’ve never understood why NAIA exists.

There are different rules. NAIA provides athletic scholarship options. D3 does not.

 

[cybychoice]

Are DIII and NAIA pretty much the same level of competition? Do trams in those divisions ever play each other? Why would a school choose to be in one or the other division? I’ve never understood why NAIA exists.

Based on the size of Northwesterns oline and dline it appears naia may be a little higher competition wise. Realistically they are probably about even.

 

[SECyclone]

Are DIII and NAIA pretty much the same level of competition? Do trams in those divisions ever play each other? Why would a school choose to be in one or the other division? I’ve never understood why NAIA exists.

NAIA vs D3 does happen In preseason. They tend to recruit some of the same good talent. One can give money and the other has to find academic scholarship for the good ones in D3.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

Correct D3 'doesn't give athletic scholarships'. Every top level player isn't paying a cent and getting a stipend but it's 'need based'.

Sounds like Wartburg is going to Mount Union most likely. They've certainly got the offense to get it done but I'm not sure the defense holds up against the Mount Union run game. Still just an amazing accomplishment to get this far.

 

[BCClone]

Are DIII and NAIA pretty much the same level of competition? Do trams in those divisions ever play each other? Why would a school choose to be in one or the other division? I’ve never understood why NAIA exists.

NAIA is higher. They give schollys. They get some kids who drop down from D1 even. They have a 4 year rule, doesn’t matter the years to fill them so I’ve seen a kid be gone for 2-3 years and then come back. NW had a running back who played for AZ when my son was being recruited.

 

[Mr.G.Spot]

NAIA is higher. They give schollys. They get some kids who drop down from D1 even. They have a 4 year rule, doesn’t matter the years to fill them so I’ve seen a kid be gone for 2-3 years and then come back. NW had a running back who played for AZ when my son was being recruited.

Also - NAIA is still a little bit of the wild west when it comes to academics, tuition aid and scholarship money.

I know there are NAIA schools that if you live in a certain geographic area or are a member of a chamber of commerce you received $2,000 off tuition, etc. Academic aid is generally easier and I believe they can give partial scholarships like the FCS. Some damn good football though.

As previously stated, D3 is no scholarship for sports. Except for the high end academic institutions, the D3 schools also can get creative on tuition aid, but technically, do not offer athletic scholarships.

 

[GoldCy]

There are different rules. NAIA provides athletic scholarship options. D3 does not.

NAIA calls it scholarship. DIIi calls it financial aid.

 

[BCClone]

Also - NAIA is still a little bit of the wild west when it comes to academics, tuition aid and scholarship money.

I know there are NAIA schools that if you live in a certain geographic area or are a member of a chamber of commerce you received $2,000 off tuition, etc. Academic aid is generally easier and I believe they can give partial scholarships like the FCS. Some damn good football though.

As previously stated, D3 is no scholarship for sports. Except for the high end academic institutions, the D3 schools also can get creative on tuition aid, but technically, do not offer athletic scholarships.

NAIA has 26 or so scholarships they can give. So they will take a few and give out like 1/5 scholarships to a chunk of players. Their academic stuff is screwy. If you have decent grades, you get like 12-15k for a scholarship, then they have a bunch of there things that are weird. Now remember that 1/5 scholarship, well that is computed on full cost, so by the time you get all that stuff figured in, you are around 10-12k for everything per year.

They are usually private so every student is more money so they find ways.

I know a kid who got a 5k bowling scholarship.

 

[clonehome]

Thanks for everyone’s responses re NAIA vs DIII. It was informative because I always thought NAIA was podunk schools and maybe even below DIII but I see that is not the case. Also explains why there is NAIA divisions I and II (except for football). I mistakenly had the opinion that NAIA division II was something like high end intramurals.