2025 RECAP
Northern State went 7-4 overall and 6-4 in the NSIC in the fall of 2025 receiving votes for two weeks in the AFCA Top-25 poll. The Wolves went 5-1 from Dacotah Bank Stadium, including a 34-31 victory over No. 10 Minnesota Duluth. Jake Adams broke the Division II era career tackles record, Daniel Britt captured the school record for average yards per rush in a season (7.9), and Wyatt Block captured the single game record for scoring run, 96-yards against UMary. Block entered the season as a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy and was named to the CSC ACademic All-District team. Nine Wolves earned All-Conference accolades, while Adams and Block earned All-Region awards. Daniel Porisch and Adams tallied All-American honors awarded by the AFCA and Don Hansen.
2026 OUTLOOK
The Wolves will open the season on August 27 from the confines of Dacotah Bank Stadium, hosting Chadron State in a non-conference match-up. Northern returns of wealth of starters from the 2025 season, in addition to nearly 50 incoming freshmen and transfers. The 2026 home slate features six contests for the Wolves including the September 26 Gypsy Days game versus UMary, October 3 North Division contest against Bemidji State, and October 31 in-state face-off with Augustana. Single game tickets will go on sale at nsuwolves.com/tickets beginning on August 10 with season ticket renewals and purchases currently under way. Visit the Wolves game day page at nsuwolves.com/gameday for promotions and giveaways, as well as helpful links heading into the fall.
The NSIC will have 14 teams. The schedule will be broken into two divisions (north/south). Each team will play 10 conference games that will count towards the NSIC Overall Championship, of which six divisional games will count towards the NSIC North/South Division Championships. In all, three league champions will be awarded (Overall Champion, North Division Champion, South Division Champion). Ties will not be broken for overall or division champions. The NSIC Football schedule is set to begin on Thursday, August 27 with non-conference action.
New for the 2026 season, the NSIC Network is now powered by Midco Sports Plus, the conference's new streaming home for exclusive live and on-demand coverage of all 16 NSIC member institutions. Fans can stream every home regular season conference and non-conference home football game, along with NSIC championship events, through a monthly ($15) or annual subscription (less than $7 per month). Subscriptions are available at MidcoSportsPlus.com or through the Midco Sports Plus app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Fire TV and Roku.
2026 NSIC PRESEASON POLL
| RK. | OVERALL POLL | POINTS | | RK. | SOUTH DIVISION | POINTS |
| 1 | Minnesota State (10) | 166 | | 1 | Minnesota State (6) | 36 |
| 2 | Minnesota Duluth (3) | 154 | | 2 | Augustana (1) | 29 |
| 3 | Augustana (1) | 145 | | 3 | Sioux Falls | 27 |
| 4 | Sioux Falls | 126 | | 4 | Wayne State | 22 |
| 5 | Wayne State | 125 | | 5 | Winona State | 16 |
| 6 | Northern State | 106 | | 6 | Concordia-St. Paul | 9 |
| 7 | Bemidji State | 97 | | 7 | Southwest Minn. St. | 8 |
| 8 | MSU Moorhead | 86 | | | | |
| 9 | Winona State | 83 | | RK. | NORTH DIVISION | POINTS |
| 10 | Minot State | 52 | | 1 | Minnesota Duluth (6) | 36 |
| 11 | University of Mary | 51 | | 2 | Northern State | 29 |
| 12 | Concordia-St. Paul | 34 | | 3 | Bemidji State (1) | 25 |
| 13 | Jamestown | 29 | | 4 | MSU Moorhead | 23 |
| 14 | Southwest Minn. St. | 21 | | 5 | Minot State | 15 |
| | | | | 6 | University of Mary | 10 |
| | | | | 7 | Jamestown | 9 |
