2020–21 NAIA football season

The 2020–21 NAIA football season was the component of the 2020 college football season organized by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in the United States. The regular season for many teams was moved to spring 2021 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic-related measures and protocols. The season's playoffs, known as the NAIA Football National Championship, culminated with the championship game on May 10, 2021, at Eddie Robinson Stadium in Grambling, Louisiana. It was originally scheduled for December 19, 2020. The Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders defeated the Northwestern Red Raiders, 45–13, in the title game to win the program's first NAIA championship.

2020 NAIA football season
Regular season	Fall 2020 – Spring 2021
Postseason	April 17 – May 10, 2021
National Championship	Eddie Robinson Stadium Grambing, LA May 10, 2021
Champion	Lindsey Wilson
Player of the Year	Tyson Kooima (quarterback, Northwestern (IA))

Conference changes and new programs

Membership changes

School	Former conference	New conference
Florida Memorial Lions	Revived program	Mid-South Sun
Madonna Crusaders	New program	MSFA Mideast
Roosevelt Lakers	New program	MSFA Midwest

Roosevelt acquired Robert Morris University's football team in April 2020 after merging with Robert Morris.

Conference standings

2020 Frontier Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 19 College of Idaho +   3 – 1     3 – 1   No. 21 Eastern Oregon +   3 – 1     3 – 1   No. 22 Carroll (MT) +^   3 – 1     3 – 2   Rocky Mountain   1 – 3     1 – 3   Montana State–Northern   0 – 4     0 – 4   + – Conference co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll	2020 Great Plains Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 3 Morningside $^   8 – 0     10 – 1   No. 2 Northwestern (IA) ^   8 – 1     11 – 2   No. 15 Dordt ^   7 – 2     7 – 3   Midland   5 – 3     5 – 3   Concordia (NE)   4 – 4     4 – 4   Dakota Wesleyan   4 – 5     4 – 5   Doane   2 – 5     2 – 5   Hastings   2 – 7     2 – 8   Jamestown   1 – 7     1 – 7   Briar Cliff   1 – 8     1 – 8   $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll	2020 Heart of America Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   North No. 4 Grand View x^   3 – 0     7 – 1   Clarke   1 – 0     2 – 3   William Penn   2 – 1     4 – 3   Peru State   0 – 0     1 – 2   Culver–Stockton   0 – 2     1 – 3   Graceland   0 – 3     0 – 5   South No. 7 Baker x^   4 – 0     7 – 1   No. 16 Benedictine (KS)   4 – 1     8 – 2   Central Methodist   3 – 2     5 – 4   MidAmerica Nazarene   2 – 3     2 – 6   Evangel   1 – 3     2 – 5   Missouri Valley   0 – 5     1 – 6   x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll
2020 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 19 Avila +   6 – 1     8 – 1   No. 12 Bethel (KS) +^   6 – 1     9 – 2   No. 25 Kansas Wesleyan   5 – 2     8 – 2   No. 24 Southwestern (KS)   5 – 2     7 – 2   Ottawa (KS)   2 – 5     5 – 5   Friends   2 – 5     2 – 6   Tabor   1 – 6     3 – 7   Sterling   1 – 6     1 – 8   McPherson   0 – 0     3 – 4   Bethany (KS)   0 – 0     1 – 4   Saint Mary (KS)   0 – 0     0 – 4   $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll	2020 Mid-South Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Appalachian Division No. 8 Reinhardt x^   6 – 0     9 – 1   Faulkner   5 – 1     6 – 2   Kentucky Christian   4 – 2     6 – 2   St. Andrews   2 – 3     3 – 3   Union (KY)   1 – 4     1 – 6   Bluefield   1 – 5     2 – 7   Point   1 – 5     1 – 7   Bluegrass Division No. 1 Lindsey Wilson x^   7 – 0     11 – 0   No. 13 Georgetown (KY) ^   6 – 1     6 – 2   Cumberlands (KY)   4 – 3     4 – 3   Bethel (TN)   3 – 4     3 – 4   Pikeville   3 – 4     3 – 4   Cumberland (TN)   2 – 5     2 – 5   Thomas More   2 – 5     2 – 5   Campbellsville   1 – 6     1 – 6   Sun Division No. 4 Keiser x^   5 – 0     9 – 1   Southeastern   3 – 1     5 – 1   St. Thomas (FL)   3 – 2     4 – 3   Ave Maria   2 – 3     3 – 4   Warner   1 – 3     2 – 4   Webber International   1 – 5     1 – 7   Florida Memorial   0 – 1     0 – 3   x – Division champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll	2020 Mid-States Football Association standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Mideast League No. 6 Concordia (MI) x^   4 – 0     6 – 1   No. 10 Marian (IN) ^   3 – 1     5 – 2   No. 17 Saint Francis (IN)   2 – 2     2 – 2   Indiana Wesleyan   2 – 3     2 – 3   Siena Heights   1 – 2     2 – 2   Lawrence Tech   0 – 1     0 – 2   Taylor   0 – 4     0 – 4   Midwest League No. 9 Olivet Nazarene x^   8 – 0     8 – 1   No. 20 Roosevelt   5 – 1     6 – 1   St. Ambrose   4 – 2     5 – 3   Saint Xavier   3 – 3     5 – 3   St. Francis (IL)   2 – 4     2 – 6   Missouri Baptist   1 – 6     1 – 6   Trinity International   0 – 6     0 – 7   x – League champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll
2020 North Star Athletic Association football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 11 Dickinson State $^   9 – 0     9 – 1   Valley City State   5 – 2     5 – 2   Waldorf   6 – 3     6 – 3   Dakota State   4 – 5     4 – 5   Mayville State   1 – 6     2 – 7   Presentation   0 – 9     0 – 10   $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll	2020 Sooner Athletic Conference football standings Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   No. 14 Arizona Christian $^   6 – 0     9 – 2   No. 23 Ottawa (AZ)   4 – 1     4 – 1   SAGU   3 – 2     4 – 3   Langston   2 – 3     2 – 3   OK Panhandle State   2 – 3     2 – 8   Wayland Baptist   1 – 4     2 – 5   Texas Wesleyan   0 – 0     1 – 1   Texas College   0 – 0     0 – 0   Lyon   0 – 5     0 – 5   $ – Conference champion ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll	2020 NAIA independents football records Conf. Overall Team   W   L     W   L   Edward Waters   –     1 – 2   Madonna   –     0 – 4

Postseason

Main article: 2020 NAIA Football National Championship

Bracket

	1st Round April 17, 2021					Quarterfinals April 24, 2021					Semifinals May 1, 2021					Championship May 10, 2021
	3	Lindsey Wilson	42
	14	Bethel (KS)	10
						3	Lindsey Wilson	49
						5	Concordia (MI)	27
	5	Concordia (MI)	21
	12	Georgetown (KY)	7
											3	Lindsey Wilson	38
											4	Keiser	14
	4	Keiser	63
	15	Arizona Christian	21
						4	Keiser	42
						8	Reinhardt	14
	8	Reinhardt	40
	9	Marian (IN)	29
																3	Lindsey Wilson	45
																6	Northwestern (IA)	13
	1	Morningside	55
	16	Carroll (MT)	0
						1	Morningside	45
						7	Baker	29
	7	Baker	59
	10	Olivet Nazarene	54
											1	Morningside	41
											6	Northwestern (IA)	44
	2	Grand View	38
	13	Dordt	10
						2	Grand View	24
						6	Northwestern (IA)	27
	6	Northwestern (IA)	31
	11	Dickinson State	7

Rankings

Main article: 2020 NAIA football rankings

See also

• 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season
• 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season
• 2020–21 NCAA Division II football season
• 2020–21 NCAA Division III football season