DII CONFERENCE · 2026 SEASON

Mid America

#26 overall#4 in DIIRR50 -4.8Upper strength -3.510 teamsTop 25 teams 0

HOPE-DOPING · 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.

Northwest Missouri State and Pittsburg State have dominated the MIAA for three decades. Does Central Missouri or Washburn finally break through to a national championship appearance in 2026, or does the power structure hold?

Division II10 teamsRace: Super Region

Mid America · Where They Stand · 2026

Power Map

Power landscape heading into 2026. Based on 2026 performance data.

Favorites
Northwest Missouri State-2.7—Pittsburg State-3.2—
Challengers
Emporia State-3.3—Fort Hays-3.7—Central Missouri-4.5—
The Field
Nebraska Kearney-4.9—Central Oklahoma-5.0—Missouri Western-5.7—
Rebuilding
Missouri Southern State-6.0—Washburn-6.8—

Mid America · 2026 Season Preview

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 Last 5
1Northwest Missouri State0–00–0-2.7—
2Pittsburg State0–00–0-3.2—
3Emporia State0–00–0-3.3—
4Fort Hays0–00–0-3.7—
5Central Missouri0–00–0-4.5—
6Nebraska Kearney0–00–0-4.9—
7Central Oklahoma0–00–0-5.0—
8Missouri Western0–00–0-5.7—
9Missouri Southern State0–00–0-6.0—
10Washburn0–00–0-6.8—

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

Conference Power · Division II

Where We Stand

# Conference Avg Power vs Focal Top Team
1GLIAC
-4.6
—Ferris State
2Mid AmericaYou are here
-4.8
—Northwest Missouri State
3Northern Sun
-4.8
—Jamestown
4Rocky Mountain
-4.9
—Western Colorado
5Great Midwest Athletic
-5.0
—Ashland
6South Atlantic
-5.0
—Lenoir Rhyne
7SIAC
-5.1
—Albany State
8Great American
-5.2
—Harding
9Lone Star
-5.2
—Central Washington
10Great Lakes
-5.2
—Truman State
11CIAA
-5.4
—Johnson C. Smith
12Pennsylvania State Athletic
-5.5
—Kutztown
13Northeast 10
-5.8
—Assumption
14Mountain East
-6.0
—Charleston (WV)
15Carolinas
-6.6
—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.

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.

Conference Snapshot

RR50-4.8
Upper Strength-3.5
Median Power-4.8
Resume Pulse45.4
Avg ATS--
Wins vs Market+0.00
Top-to-Middle Gap2.0
Combined Record0-0

`RR50`, `Upper Strength`, and `Median Power` are shown on the same public power scale as the rest of the site: points on a neutral field versus the average all-level NCAA team. Very small affiliations are gently regressed toward their subdivision baseline so a one-team outlier does not hijack the entire conference board.

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
#250 Northwest Missouri State 0-0 -2.7 55 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#261 Pittsburg State 0-0 -3.2 53 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#265 Emporia State 0-0 -3.3 52 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#274 Fort Hays 0-0 -3.7 50 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#294 Central Missouri 0-0 -4.5 47 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#311 Nebraska Kearney 0-0 -4.9 44 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#316 Central Oklahoma 0-0 -5.0 43 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#338 Missouri Western 0-0 -5.7 39 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#342 Missouri Southern State 0-0 -6.0 38 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#360 Washburn 0-0 -6.8 35 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.