DIII CONFERENCE · 2026 SEASON

Ohio

#53 overall#14 in DIIIRR50 -13.6Upper strength -12.29 teamsTop 25 teams 0

VERDICT BEGINS · 2026

Mount Union's Conference

Mount Union has won 13 DIII national championships — more than any program at any level of college football. Their Alliance, Ohio program wins 11 or 12 games almost every year under Larry Kehres and then Vince Kehres, with a culture of excellence so embedded that the program functions more like a professional organization than a small-college team. Ohio Northern, Otterbein, Baldwin Wallace, and Marietta all compete in the same conference and have produced NFL players. The OAC is DIII football's benchmark.

Division III9 teamsRace: DIII BracketLeader: John Carroll

Ohio · Where They Stand · 2026

Power Map

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

Ohio · 2026 Season Preview

Three Things to Watch

The Greatest Program

Mount Union: 13 National Championships

Mount Union has won 13 DIII national championships — more than any program at any level of college football. Vince Kehres succeeded his father Larry and maintained the standard without a single losing season in program history. Their Alliance, Ohio campus recruits Ohio high school players who want to win national championships and develop for NFL combines. They are not just the OAC's dominant program. They are DIII football's defining institution.

The RivalOhio Northern and the OAC's Competitive Depth

Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio has competed for the OAC title and made the DIII bracket consistently. Their program draws from northwest Ohio — the same region that produces Big Ten linemen and skill players — and competes with the physical style that the OAC demands. They are Mount Union's most consistent challenger within the conference and the program most likely to hand the Raiders their only OAC loss in any given season.

Wild Card

Baldwin Wallace and the Cleveland Pipeline

Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio — adjacent to Cleveland — draws from the northeast Ohio pipeline that produces some of the country's best DII and DIII players. Their program has won OAC titles and appeared in the DIII bracket, and their proximity to Cleveland gives them recruiting access to a market that generates football players at a rate that most DIII programs cannot reach.

Conference Standings · Ohio · 2026

Standings

# Team Conf Overall Pwr Last 5
1John Carroll0–00–0-11.0
2Mount Union0–00–0-11.6
3Ohio Northern0–00–0-13.2
4Marietta0–00–0-13.2
5Heidelberg0–00–0-13.6
6Muskingum0–00–0-14.1
7Wilmington (OH)0–00–0-14.8
8Capital0–00–0-14.8
9Otterbein0–00–0-15.7

Conference record determines standing. Power = neutral-field pts vs. all-level average. Last 5 = most recent game results.

Conference Power · Division III

Where We Stand

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

Mount Union has won 13 DIII national championships — more than any program at any level of college football. Their Alliance, Ohio program wins 11 or 12 games almost every year under Larry Kehres and then Vince Kehres, with a culture of excellence so embedded that the program functions more like a professional organization than a small-college team. Ohio Northern, Otterbein, Baldwin Wallace, and Marietta all compete in the same conference and have produced NFL players. The OAC is DIII football's benchmark.

Conference Snapshot

RR50-13.6
Upper Strength-12.2
Median Power-13.7
Resume Pulse18.8
Avg ATS--
Wins vs Market+0.00
Top-to-Middle Gap2.6
Combined Record0-0

Ohio 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
#415 John Carroll 0-0 -11.0 34 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#430 Mount Union 0-0 -11.6 31 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#479 Ohio Northern 0-0 -13.2 23 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#480 Marietta 0-0 -13.2 23 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#500 Heidelberg 0-0 -13.6 20 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#533 Muskingum 0-0 -14.1 15 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#559 Wilmington (OH) 0-0 -14.8 10 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#564 Capital 0-0 -14.8 10 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.
#604 Otterbein 0-0 -15.7 3 -- +0.00 Upcoming schedule still settling.