When we were writing our preseason previews on the 22 Iowa Colleges and Universities we cover and setting floor and ceiling wins, it seemed pretty clear to us who was poised to lead the pack and who was building.
So, we are at roughly the midseason point and thought it would be fun to see who are the biggest positive and less than positive surprise teams so far.
The “Whoa we did not see these guys being that good” Team
The men from Oskalossa the William Penn Statesmen have been one of the biggest surprise success stories in NAIA in not just Iowa, but in the Nation.
Last year in 2024 they finished 4-6. Billy Penn was 4-6 in 2023, 3-7 in 2022, and 3-8 in 2021. That’s a 18-27 record since the COVID-shortened season.
Head Coach Marc Benavidez and his staff were entering their 3rd season this fall and building their program, so we thought they might get to 5 wins this year.
Well, the Statesmen reached 5 wins in their first five games and sit at 5-1 with this Saturday being a bye week. They have beaten two top #25 teams and have 5 games left in the regular season. Their remaining schedule is Missouri Baptist (1-4), Clarke (1-5), Peru State (4-2), Graceland (2-3), and St. Ambrose (1-5).
Coaches hate these “rat poison” columns predicting success as they live week to week and by the 0-0 record mantra….but hey, at SGI are just fans who write for fun, so we are going to predict the Statesmen get to at least 8 wins. In the words of the great Jim Mora can we say….”Playoffs”. Yes, the NAIA playoffs for the Statesmen are a realistic goal.
Dordt….well we will talk about them more as we move forward this year, we expected them to be very good, but they might be just more than very good and move into the special category.
Upper Iowa and Drake also are now on rolls… and they could have above our SGI projected seasons.
Iowa’s DIII teams have been Chalk so far but the season is far from over
The American River Conference (A-R-C) is to use a term a Power 5 DIII conference that has put two teams in the DIII playoffs the past two years running. When the season started we had Wartburg, Central and Coe at the top of the Iowa DIII pyramid. Wartburg has been the dominant DIII program in the state for decade with Central and Coe being their only challengers for the crown depending on the year.
In the challengers to the Big 3, we had the Dubuque Spartans and the Simpson Storm as potential top-tier teams.
In the next tier we had Loras, Cornell, Buena Vista, and Grinnell. We had Luther in a rebuild year as they prep to leave the A-R-C next year. The Midwest Conference is not as strong a DIII conference and Luther will join their Iowa brethren (Grinnell and Cornell) next year.
So far, there have been no surprises. Wartburg rules, Central is a big threat, Coe lingers….but Simpson and Dubuque can still make noise and rise into the top 3.
The Season is on the brink of disappointment teams – Danger Rocks Ahead
Northwestern College is 2-3. No, that is not typo. The Raiders won the NAIA National title in 2022 and finished second in 2023 at 14-1. The men from Orange City preseason were NAIA top 10.
They have #4 Morningside and #17 Concordia left on the schedule. The Raiders have lost two one-point games to Dordt and Hastings and a shocker by 10 to Mt. Mary. So they could easily be 4-1 or 3-2, but the scoreboard doesn’t lie. They can still turn the season around, but they also could have 5 losses… which no reasonable follower of NAIA football would have predicted.
Graceland was coming off a 7-4 record and increased win totals every year for the past three years. The Yellow Jackets from Lamoni are sitting at 2-3 under new head coach Phil Staback (who took the role on July 31st when Patrick Ross took a new role at Graceland). The right before season change is always an unknown variable and they Jackets still have time to get right, but they have to get going soon.
What other SGI teams are Chalk so far in 2025?
Grandview defending NAIA National Champs – Yep, undefeated and look powerful as expected. Morningside top 4 preseason NAIA….look all of that and a Natty contender once again like every year for the past few decades.
As expected, we have Clarke, St. Ambrose, Briar Cliff (rising more than expected), Waldorf all in building or rebuilding mode.
There is alot of season left for all 22 teams. Who will climb more than expectations, who will fall short?
It is going to be fun to watch and follow. Thank you as always for the comments and support.
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