DII CONFERENCE · 2026 SEASON

Mid America

#29 overall#4 in DIIRR50 −2.9Upper strength −1.210 teamsTop 25 teams 0

The weekly grind · 2026

The MIAA Is DII

The MIAA is the tightest competitive conference in DII football — four or five programs capable of winning the conference title in any given year, all of them producing NFL players from Kansas City area, western Missouri, and eastern Kansas. Northwest Missouri State has won four DII national championships. Pittsburg State won two. Central Missouri and Washburn have made Super Region championship games. The MIAA is where DII football is most consistently excellent.

Division II10 teamsRace: Super RegionLeader: Northwest Missouri State

Mid America · 2026 season

Three things to watch

The Standard

Northwest Missouri State: Four National Championships

Northwest Missouri State has won four DII national championships — 1998, 1999, 2009, and 2017 — from Maryville, Missouri, a town of 11,000 people. Mel Tjeerdsma and then Steve Ryan built a program that measures itself against any level of college football. Their roster consistently produces NFL players that FBS programs passed over. They enter 2026 as the MIAA's most decorated program and remain the benchmark against which every other conference program measures itself.

The Rival

Pittsburg State: The Border War's Other Side

Pittsburg State has won two DII national championships and has been Northwest Missouri's primary rival in the MIAA for thirty years. Their Southeast Kansas program draws from the four-state corner region — Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas — and produces the offensive linemen and linebackers that make DII championship game lines so physical. When Pittsburg State and Northwest Missouri play in November, the winner often has the conference title. They have met in the national championship game twice.

Wild CardCentral Missouri's Consistent Challenge

Central Missouri has been within one game of the MIAA title three times in the last five seasons and earned Super Region appearances in back-to-back years. Their Warrensburg program — between Kansas City and Columbia — draws from the I-70 corridor and develops players through one of DII's most analytically sophisticated offensive systems. If any program breaks the Northwest Missouri-Pittsburg State duopoly in 2026, Central Missouri is the most likely candidate.

Conference standings · Mid America · 2026

Standings

#	Team	Conf	Overall	Pwr
1	Emporia State	5-0	7-0	-1.0
2	Northwest Missouri State	4-1	5-1	-0.2
3	Central Missouri	4-1	5-2	-1.9
4	Washburn	3-2	4-2	-3.0
5	Central Oklahoma	2-3	3-4	-1.0
6	Fort Hays	2-3	3-4	-2.2
7	Missouri Western	2-3	3-4	-3.6
8	Pittsburg State	2-3	2-5	-3.0
9	Nebraska Kearney	1-4	1-6	-4.4
10	Missouri Southern State	0-5	1-6	-4.9

Conference record determines Super Region seeding. Power = neutral-field pts vs. all-level average.

Projected standings · Mid America · 2026

Win projection

Odds of winning at least N conference games from current power ratings — full slate played out, not locked to results. Avg = expected wins; W-L = most-likely record.

#	Team	W-L	Pwr	Avg	≥9	≥8	≥7	≥6	≥5	≥4	≥3	≥2	≥1
Favorites
1	Northwest Missouri State	5-4	+2.3	5.1	1	5	17	40	66	86	96	99	✓
2	Emporia State	5-4	+1.6	4.9		4	14	35	61	83	95	99	✓
Challengers
3	Central Oklahoma	5-4	+1.5	4.8		3	12	32	58	81	94	99	✓
4	Central Missouri	5-4	+0.7	4.7		3	11	30	56	79	93	99	✓
5	Fort Hays	5-4	+0.4	4.6		2	10	28	54	78	93	99	✓
The field
6	Pittsburg State	4-5	−0.5	4.3		1	7	22	45	71	89	98	✓
7	Washburn	4-5	−0.5	4.3		1	7	21	45	71	89	98	✓
8	Missouri Western	4-5	−1.1	4.2		1	6	19	41	68	87	97	✓
Rebuilding
9	Nebraska Kearney	4-5	−1.9	4.1		1	5	17	39	66	86	97	✓
10	Missouri Southern State	4-5	−2.4	3.9		1	4	14	34	60	83	95	99

Conference power · Division II

Where we stand

#	Conference	Avg power	Record	Top team
1	GLIAC	-2.6	1-1	Ferris State
2	Mid AmericaYou are here	-2.9	—	Northwest Missouri State
3	South Atlantic	-3.0	—	Carson Newman
4	Northern Sun	-3.4	1-2	Minnesota State
5	Great Midwest Athletic	-3.6	—	Northwood
6	Rocky Mountain	-3.7	0-4	Western Colorado
7	Great American	-3.9	—	Harding
8	Pennsylvania State Athletic	-4.0	—	Kutztown
9	Lone Star	-4.0	2-1	Central Washington
10	SIAC	-4.2	—	Benedict
11	Great Lakes	-4.6	3-0	Indianapolis
12	CIAA	-4.7	—	Virginia State
13	Northeast 10	-4.8	—	Franklin Pierce
14	Mountain East	-5.1	—	Frostburg State
15	Carolinas	-5.4	—	UNC Pembroke

Round-robin power = strength of schedule-adjusted conference average, points vs. all-level average team. Record = Mid America's record vs. that conference across all games this season.

Conference Snapshot

RR50−2.9

Upper Strength−1.2

Median Power−2.9

Resume Pulse45.3

Avg ATS--

Wins vs Market+0.00

Top-to-Middle Gap2.4

Combined Record34-34

League Drivers

Power leader Northwest Missouri State #286 overall | −0.2 pts vs avg Resume leader Emporia State #301 overall | 88 / 100 resume

Mid America Team Board

The league stack, sorted by predictive strength. Power is shown as neutral-field points versus the all-level average team, while resume is shown on a 0-100 season score.

Rank	Team	Record	Power	Resume	ATS	Wins vs Market	Recent Form
#286	Northwest Missouri State	5-1	−0.2	70	--	+0.00	3-1 over the last 4 (W3 L4 W6 W7)
#301	Emporia State	7-0	−1.0	88	--	+0.00	4-0 over the last 4 (W3 W5 W6 W7)
#303	Central Oklahoma	3-4	−1.0	56	--	+0.00	2-2 over the last 4 (W4 L5 W6 L7)
#312	Central Missouri	5-2	−1.9	46	--	+0.00	3-1 over the last 4 (W4 W5 L6 W7)
#319	Fort Hays	3-4	−2.2	32	--	+0.00	1-3 over the last 4 (L4 W5 L6 L7)
#332	Pittsburg State	2-5	−3.0	15	--	+0.00	2-2 over the last 4 (L3 W5 L6 W7)
#333	Washburn	4-2	−3.0	70	--	+0.00	3-1 over the last 4 (W3 W4 W6 L7)
#345	Missouri Western	3-4	−3.6	41	--	+0.00	2-2 over the last 4 (W4 L5 W6 L7)
#362	Nebraska Kearney	1-6	−4.4	22	--	+0.00	1-3 over the last 4 (L4 L5 L6 W7)
#373	Missouri Southern State	1-6	−4.9	13	--	+0.00	0-4 over the last 4 (L4 L5 L6 L7)