| 2021 NAIA football season | |
|---|---|
| Regular season | August 28 – November 13, 2021 |
| Postseason | November 20 – December 18, 2021 |
| National Championship | Durham County Memorial Stadium Durham, NC December 18, 2021 |
| Champion | Morningside |
| Player of the Year | Joe Dolincheck (quarterback,Morningside) |
The2021 NAIA football season is the component of the 2021college football season organized by theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in the United States. The regular season began on August 28 and culminated on November 13. The season's playoffs, known as theNAIA Football National Championship, began on November 20 and culminated with the championship game on December 18 atDurham County Memorial Stadium inDurham, North Carolina. TheMorningside Mustangs defeated theGrand View Vikings in the title game, winning the program's third NAIA title in four seasons under head coachSteve Ryan.[1]
| School | Former conference | New conference |
|---|---|---|
| AllenYellow Jackets | Appalachian | NCAA D-II Independent |
| Arkansas BaptistBuffaloes | Independent (NJCAA) | Independent |
| Edward WatersTigers | NAIA Independent | SIAC (NCAA D-II) |
| Iowa WesleyanTigers | St. Louis (NCAA D-III) | North Star |
| Judson UniversityEagles | New program | MSFA Midwest |
| Louisiana ChristianWildcats | Am. Southwest (NCAA D-III) | Sooner |
| Mount MartyLancers | New program | GPAC |
| 1st Round November 20 | Quarterfinals November 27 | Semifinals December 4 | Championship December 18 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Lindsey Wilson | 48 | |||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Montana Western | 21 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Lindsey Wilson | 54 | |||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Keiser | 12 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Reinhardt | 13 | |||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Keiser | 16 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Lindsey Wilson | 28 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Grand View | 34 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Grand View | 38 | |||||||||||||||||
| 14 | Dickinson State | 13 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Grand View | 31 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Concordia (MI) | 16 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Concordia (MI) | 47 | |||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Saint Xavier | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Grand View | 28 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Morningside | 38 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Morningside | 63 | |||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Ottawa (AZ) | 38 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Morningside | 58 | |||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Kansas Wesleyan | 21 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Indiana Wesleyan | ||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Kansas Wesleyan | forfeit | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Morningside | 28 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Northwestern (IA) | 19 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Northwestern (IA) | 24 | |||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Central Methodist | 7 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Northwestern (IA) | 25 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Marian (IN) | 20 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Marian (IN) | 21 | |||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Southwestern (KS) | 17 | |||||||||||||||||