DIII CONFERENCE · 2026 SEASON

Ohio

#49 overall#7 in DIIIRR50 −13.6Upper strength −11.610 teamsTop 25 teams 0

The weekly grind · 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 III10 teamsRace: DIII BracketLeader: John Carroll

Ohio · 2026 season

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 CardBaldwin 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
1	Baldwin Wallace	4-0	6-0	-10.9
2	Ohio Northern	4-1	4-2	-12.9
3	Heidelberg	3-1	5-1	-12.2
4	Mount Union	3-1	4-2	-11.3
5	Marietta	2-3	3-3	-13.2
6	Capital	2-3	3-3	-15.0
7	Wilmington (OH)	1-3	2-4	-16.0
8	Otterbein	1-3	2-4	-16.9
9	John Carroll	0-0	5-1	-10.7
10	Muskingum	0-5	0-6	-15.9

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

Projected standings · Ohio · 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	≥8	≥7	≥6	≥5	≥4	≥3	≥2	≥1
Favorites
1	Baldwin Wallace	5-3	+2.6	4.6	1	8	26	53	79	94	99	✓
2	Mount Union	5-3	+2.2	4.5	1	7	25	51	77	93	99	✓
Challengers
3	Heidelberg	4-4	+1.3	4.3	1	6	21	46	73	91	98	✓
4	Ohio Northern	4-4	+0.6	4.2		4	17	41	69	89	98	✓
The field
5	Marietta	4-4	+0.3	4.1		4	16	40	67	88	97	✓
6	Capital	4-4	−1.5	3.8		2	11	30	57	81	95	99
7	Muskingum	4-4	−2.4	3.6		2	8	25	51	78	94	99
Rebuilding
8	Wilmington (OH)	3-5	−2.6	3.5		2	8	24	50	77	93	99
9	Otterbein	3-5	−3.4	3.4		1	6	21	45	73	92	99

Conference power · Division III

Where we stand

#	Conference	Avg power	Record	Top team
1	American Southwest	-10.8	—	Hardin Simmons
2	Wisconsin	-11.2	—	Wisconsin Whitewater
3	Michigan	-13.4	1-2	Hope
4	Presidents'	-13.5	5-0	Saint Francis
5	USA South	-13.6	1-0	LaGrange
6	Southern Athletic	-13.6	—	Berry
7	OhioYou are here	-13.6	—	John Carroll
8	Centennial	-13.6	—	Dickinson
9	CCIW	-13.6	0-1	North Central College
10	Old Dominion	-13.6	—	Randolph Macon
11	Minnesota	-13.6	—	Saint John's (MN)
12	North Coast	-13.7	5-1	DePauw
13	Commonwealth Coast	-13.7	—	Endicott
14	NEWMAC	-13.8	—	Springfield
15	American Rivers	-13.8	—	Wartburg
16	Northwest	-13.9	—	Linfield
17	New Jersey	-13.9	—	Salisbury
18	Liberty League	-14.0	—	Ithaca
19	Empire 8	-14.1	—	SUNY Cortland
20	Mid Atlantic	-14.3	—	Eastern
21	So. Cal.	-14.3	—	Chapman
22	NESCAC	-14.3	—	Trinity (CT)
23	Landmark Conference	-14.4	—	Susquehanna
24	NACC	-14.4	—	Aurora
25	MSCAC	-14.6	—	Bridgewater State
26	Heartland	-14.7	2-2	Mount St Joseph
27	Midwest	-14.9	—	Lake Forest
28	Southern Collegiate Athletic	-15.0	—	Texas Lutheran
29	Upper Midwest	-15.5	—	Northwestern (MN)

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.

Conference Snapshot

RR50−13.6

Upper Strength−11.6

Median Power−13.3

Resume Pulse47.3

Avg ATS--

Wins vs Market+0.00

Top-to-Middle Gap2.4

Combined Record34-26

League Drivers

Power leader John Carroll #445 overall | −10.7 pts vs avg Resume leader Baldwin Wallace #454 overall | 95 / 100 resume

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
#445	John Carroll	5-1	−10.7	71	--	+0.00	3-1 over the last 4 (W3 W4 L5 W7)
#454	Baldwin Wallace	6-0	−10.9	95	--	+0.00	4-0 over the last 4 (W4 W5 W6 W7)
#462	Mount Union	4-2	−11.3	65	--	+0.00	3-1 over the last 4 (L3 W5 W6 W7)
#487	Heidelberg	5-1	−12.2	81	--	+0.00	3-1 over the last 4 (W3 W4 L5 W7)
#512	Ohio Northern	4-2	−12.9	60	--	+0.00	3-1 over the last 4 (W3 W4 L6 W7)
#525	Marietta	3-3	−13.2	49	--	+0.00	2-2 over the last 4 (W3 W4 L6 L7)
#579	Capital	3-3	−15.0	30	--	+0.00	1-3 over the last 4 (L3 L4 W6 L7)
#609	Muskingum	0-6	−15.9	1	--	+0.00	0-4 over the last 4 (L4 L5 L6 L7)
#616	Wilmington (OH)	2-4	−16.0	12	--	+0.00	1-3 over the last 4 (L3 L4 L6 W7)
#638	Otterbein	2-4	−16.9	11	--	+0.00	2-2 over the last 4 (W3 L4 W5 L7)