The 2026 NAIA Football season kicks off Thursday night with 17 games across 13 states, a top-10 showdown Friday night on Urban Edge Network, and 30 more games across the PrestoSports NAIA Scoreboard Saturday. Of the 48 games on the Week 0 schedule, 12 are featured across the NAIA Family of Networks, including four – two Thursday, two Saturday – on the NAIA Network.
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Grand View puts its 28-game winning streak on the line at the Oak Bowl, one of the NAIA’s most historic venues, when the defending champs open at Peru State (Neb.). Championship Game MVP Dalten Van Pelt returns to lead the GVU offense, while Grand View’s defense ranked second in the NAIA against opponents’ scoring at 12.7 points per game, allowing just 82 rushing yards per contest. GVU will be looking to replace NAIA Player of the Year Jackson Waring, while Peru State brings back a veteran under center, CJ Dixon, who threw for 2,580 yards and 26 touchdowns in 2025.
One of the NAIA’s top returners will get his chance early, as Levi Torgerson looks for another big year starting Thursday night against OUAZ. As a pass catcher, Torgerson led the NAIA with 103 receptions, 1,370 receiving yards and his NAIA-best 444 punt-return yards led to another NAIA-best, 2,446 all-purpose yards.
Northwestern (Iowa) kicker Gianna Bennett needs 49 points to become the all-time leading female scorer in college football history, entering 2026 with 52 career points. She’ll chase Tonya Butler’s 87 points at West Alabama, and the leader, Brittany Ryan, who scored 100 points in her Lebanon Valley College career.
Dordt (Iowa) and Indiana Wesleyan get the spotlight all to themselves Friday night as the only NAIA game on the docket, at 6 p.m. ET on the Urban Edge Network. Both teams return last season’s starting quarterbacks – Noah Strickfaden (110-196, 1,754 yards, 13 TDs) for Dordt, and Arjun Lothe (244-395, 3,938 yards, 41 TDs) for IWU. Lothe led the NAIA last season in total passing yards.
No. 3 Benedictine (Kan.) and No. 7 Morningside (Iowa) meet in an August opener for the fourth straight season, with the Ravens looking for their third consecutive win in the series. Benedictine won 38-34 last year and 48-45 in 2024, while Morningside took the 2023 matchup, 20-17. Before becoming an August tradition, the teams last met in the 2018 NAIA National Championship Game, a 35-28 Morningside victory.
Central Oklahoma at (RV) Texas Wesleyan, 6 p.m. CT
#16 St. Thomas (Fla.) at (RV) Cumberland (Tenn.), 6 p.m. CT
Graceland (Iowa) at #13 William Penn (Iowa), 7 p.m. CT
#8 Dordt (Iowa) at #9 Indiana Wesleyan, 6 p.m. ET
#21 McPherson (Kan.) at Avila (Mo.), 1 p.m. CT
#3 Benedictine (Kan.) at #7 Morningside (Iowa), 6 p.m. CT
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Trent Rickard’s 10 points on four goals and a pair of assists led The Master’s (Calif.) to a 2-0 week in a pair of GSAC wins over La Sierra (Calif.) and Soka (Calif.), earning the junior forward PrestoSports NAIA Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week accolades for Oct. 13. The Mustangs […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Mobile (Ala.) sophomore keeper Tanner Boxberger made five saves and kept a clean sheet in the Rams’ 3-0 win over No. 3 Tennessee Southern, Oct. 8, earning this week’s PrestoSports NAIA Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week award. The win got Mobile to 6-4-3 on the year and picked up critical […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Charlize Davis and Matea Vernon of Rocky Mountain (Mont.) had two big matches last week, not only in Cascade Conference action, but on a national scale as well. Vernon’s baker’s dozen save total across both matches not only handed her the PrestoSports-NAIA Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week honors, while […]
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has partnered with AnovaSports, naming the company the Trusted Service Provider of AI Basketball Scouting. Through the partnership, NAIA basketball programs will have access to AnovaSports’ AI-powered basketball intelligence platform, a decision engine that transforms complex team, opponent, and matchup data into actionable insights […]