The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) includes 97 teams. Each team has one head coach. [1] As of the 2024 season, the NAIA is composed of ten conferences: the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC), Frontier Conference, Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC), Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC), Mid-South Conference (MSC), Mid-States Football Association (MSFA), North Star Athletic Association (NSAA), Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC), and the Sun Conference (TSC).
As of the start of the 2024 season, the longest-tenured coach in NAIA, is Dennis McCulloch of Valley City State University, who has been head coach at the school since 1997. In all, 14 NAIA programs will have new head coaches in 2024.
Conference affiliations are current for the 2024 season.
The Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Member institutions are located in Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The conference was founded in 1969 as the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC), later becoming the Nebraska–Iowa Athletic Conference (1992) before being renamed the Great Plains Athletic Conference (2000).
The Frontier Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference was founded in 1934. Member institutions are located in the U.S. state of Montana, with associate members in the states of Arizona, Idaho, and Oregon.
Defiance College is a private college located in Defiance, Ohio and affiliated with the United Church of Christ. The campus includes eighteen buildings and access to the 200-acre (80.9 ha) Thoreau Wildlife Sanctuary. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, but the college has been on probation since 2023 for concerns with one out of the eighteen accreditation criteria.
The Sun Conference (TSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Eight of the ten full member institutions are located in Florida, with two in Georgia. The Sun Conference competes in the NAIA in all sponsored sports.
The Minot State Beavers football team is an NCAA Division II program that represents Minot State University in North Dakota. The Beavers are members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and home games are played on campus in Minot at Herb Parker Stadium.
The Southwestern Moundbuilders are the athletic teams that represent Southwestern College, located in Winfield, Kansas, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) since the 1958–59 academic year; which they were a member on a previous stint from 1902–03 to 1922–23. The Moundbinders previously competed in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (CIC) from 1923–24 to 1957–58.
The Lindenwood Lions and Lady Lions are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Lindenwood University, located in St. Charles, Missouri, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Ohio Valley Conference for most of its sports since the 2022–23 academic year.
Keiser University is a private university with its main campus in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and flagship residential campus in West Palm Beach, Florida. Additional campuses are located in other parts of Florida and internationally. Keiser provides educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate levels in both traditional and online delivery formats. The school is institutionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
The Wofford Terriers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Wofford College located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). Wofford's first football team was fielded in 1889. The team plays its home games at the 13,000 seat Gibbs Stadium in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Josh Conklin is the current head coach for the Terriers.
The Central Oklahoma Bronchos, are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing University of Central Oklahoma, located in Edmond, Oklahoma. The five men's and nine women's varsity teams are called the "Bronchos". The school's identification as Bronchos dates back to 1922, when the wife of football coach Charles W. Wantland suggested it for the school's mascot. The official colors of the teams are bronze and blue, which the institution adopted in 1895. The Bronchos compete in the NCAA's Division II and in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association in all sports except women's rowing, which competes in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Bronchos have won 22 national championships, with the most recent coming in 2024 as the wrestling program won the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships. The university's current athletic director is Stan Wagnon, who has served in the position since 2020.
The Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern Oklahoma State University, located in Alva, Oklahoma, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Great American Conference (GAC) since the 2012–13 academic year. The Rangers previously competed in the Sooner Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) from 2001–02 to 2011–12; in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) from 1998–99 to 2000–01; as an NAIA Independent during the 1997–98 school year; in the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference (OIC) from 1974–75 to 1996–97.
The Keiser Seahawks are the athletic teams that represent Keiser University, located in West Palm Beach, Florida, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Sun Conference since the 2015–16 academic year. Prior to July 2015, the Seahawks represented Northwood University's West Palm Beach campus.
The 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level.
The Keiser Seahawks football team represents Keiser University in college football in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The Seahawks are members of the Sun Conference (TSC), fielding its team in the TSC since 2022. The Seahawks play their home games at Keiser Multi-Purpose Field in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The 2022 NCAA Division III football season was the component of the 2022 college football season organized by the NCAA at the Division III level in the United States. The regular season began on September 3 and ended on November 12. This was the 49th season that the NCAA has sponsored a Division III championship.
Doug Socha is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach for Lenoir–Rhyne University, a position he has held since 2024. Socha led the Keiser Seahawks to back-to-back NAIA Football National Championship title games in 2022 and 2023: winning in 2023.
The 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The regular season began on August 26 and ended in November. The postseason began in November and ended on January 7, 2024, with the 2024 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. South Dakota State repeated as champions, defeating Montana, 23–3.
The 2023 NCAA Division III football season was the component of the 2023 college football season organized by the NCAA at the Division III level in the United States. The regular season began on September 2 and ended on November 12. This was the 50th season that the NCAA has sponsored a Division III championship.
The 2023 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, began on August 31 and ended on December 16 with the Division II championship at the McKinney Independent School District Stadium in McKinney, Texas. Harding won the title, defeating Colorado Mines, 38–7.
The 2024 NAIA football season is the component of the 2024 college football season organized by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in the United States.