The story of NCAA Division III football can largely be told in the form of eras. 

There was Augustana (Illinois)’s four-peat in the 1980s. Mount Union’s multiple dominant runs in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. Wisconsin-Whitewater’s six national titles from 2007-14. Mary Hardin-Baylor’s three titles (one being later vacated) from 2016-21.

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Currently, however, the division is clearly in the North Central era.

The Cardinals are looking to win back-to-back national championships for the first time in program history this season, currently sitting in the division’s final four, one win away from competing for a title for the sixth straight season. 

They’ve been the No. 1 team for the entirety of the season, and with two games left to prove themselves as D-III’s undisputed top dog, NCC is ready to make some more noise on the biggest stage in the division.

Interested in how the Cardinals got here? Here’s all that you should know about the current juggernaut of D-III football:

What is the History of North Central Football?

North Central fielded its first football team in 1898, competing in its early days against teams like Wisconsin, Illinois, and Northwestern before college sports underwent modernization, and the Cardinals eventually settled into Division III, where they remain today.

In the D-III era (since 1973), NCC hasn’t been known as a powerhouse football program until very recently. The Cardinals never won at least a share of their conference championship as a D-III team until 2006, while recording their first-ever double-digit win season two years later under John Thorne. Thorne, who coached NCC from 2002-14, laid the groundwork for what the Cardinals would become, leading them to eight D-III playoff appearances in nine years, with his best run coming in 2013, when NCC made the national semifinals.

Upon Thorne’s retirement in 2014, son, Jeff Thorne, was promoted from within and proceeded to take the Cardinals to new heights. Following three straight second-round playoff exits from 2016-18, NCC finally won the big one in 2019 with the program’s first-ever national championship, and the Cardinals have never missed out on a Stagg Bowl since.

The Cardinals’ reign of dominance has continued under current coach Brad Spencer, who has never seen his team’s season end before the national championship game, as NCC has now captured three of the past five D-III titles, winning it two more times in 2022 and 2024.

Where and Who Does North Central Football Play?

North Central is located in Naperville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and has competed in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) since 1946. In that time, the Cardinals have captured the CCIW championship on 19 occasions and are currently on an incredible 51-game conference winning streak, having not lost in league play since Oct. 5, 2019, against Wheaton College.

NCC plays at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville, which opened in 1999 after many of the campus’s athletic fields were destroyed by a 1996 flood. The stadium permanently holds 4,839 fans, with expandable seating to increase the capacity to nearly 6,000, and was briefly the home stadium for Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire from 2002-03.

The Cardinals’ main rival is Wheaton, against whom they compete annually in the Battle for the Little Brass Bell. The Thunder — a consistent top-25 team — actually leads the all-time series (55-48-3) dating back to 1900, but NCC is on an ongoing five-game winning streak, including when the Cardinals picked up a dominant 35-0 shutout win over their rivals in the regular season.

How Has North Central Football Performed in 2025?

As the defending national champion, it was no surprise that North Central entered the 2025 season as the consensus No. 1 team in D-III, holding the top spot in both the American Football Coaches Association coaches’ poll and the D3football.com poll. The Cardinals have done nothing but prove both groups of pollsters right since.

NCC won every regular-season game by at least 17 points, cruising to its fourth straight outright CCIW title in the process and earning a first-round bye to the D-III playoffs in its 17th postseason trip. The Cardinals rolled past Hanover in the first round (38-6), and though its third-round scoreline against Wisconsin-La Crosse appeared closer (35-27), the Eagles did score twice in the final 5:20 of game time in a matchup that NCC largely dominated.

Bethel visited Naperville last weekend in the national quarterfinals, but the Royals were no match for the Cardinals, once again scoring twice late (in the final 4:22 this time around) to make a 35-21 defeat look a little closer. It was a stellar performance for NCC’s nation-leading defense (9.23 points allowed per game), which held the second-most productive offense in the division (47.4 points per game, behind North Central’s 50.0) to just a single touchdown prior to the final five minutes.

Who Coaches North Central Football?

The Cardinals are coached by Brad Spencer, a man who bleeds Cardinal red as a Naperville native, NCC alum, and coaching lifer with his alma mater.

Spencer was a record-breaking wide receiver at North Central from 2000-03, finishing as the program’s all-time leader in catches, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, before immediately going into coaching upon his graduation right back at NCC. He was the Cardinals’ wide receivers coach for over a decade before being promoted to offensive coordinator prior to the 2015 season, winning FootballScoop’s NCAA Division III Coordinator of the Year award after the Cardinals captured their first national championship in 2019.

When head coach Jeff Thorne — who tragically died last week after a battle with stomach cancer — stepped down after the 2021 season to take a job as an assistant at D-I Western Michigan, Spencer stepped in and immediately continued the Cardinals’ success. Since taking over as head coach, Spencer has been near-perfect, going an outstanding 57-1 as of this writing with no losses in the regular season, no defeats before the national championship game, and a clearly-established gold standard in D-III football.

Who Are North Central Football’s Best Players?

A North Central player has captured the Gagliardi Trophy, D-III’s Heisman equivalent, in each of the past three seasons, with running back Ethan Greenfield taking top honors in 2022 before quarterback Luke Lehnen — who now plays with the UFL’s Dallas Renegades — went back-to-back in 2023 and 2024. Wide receiver Thomas Skokna, the only Cardinal named to the list of Gagliardi Trophy semifinalists announced earlier this month, is NCC’s hope to make it four straight.

No wideout in the country has found the endzone more this season than Skokna, whose 23 touchdown receptions lead D-III as he’s been responsible for eight multi-score games, including a season-high of five against Millikin on Oct. 11. His 75 catches for 1,156 yards so far this season are also elite numbers, establishing an electric partnership with first-year starting quarterback Garret Wilson, who has had no trouble (2,562 passing yards, 39 touchdowns, four interceptions) filling Lehnen’s shoes under center.

On the defensive side, the Cardinals are great everywhere, but have been especially adept at getting to the quarterback with 38 sacks, tied for second nationally. Three players — Bobby Medina, Eli Renick, and John Sullivan — have at least seven sacks, with the latter leading the team in tackles for loss with 20 on the season. Senior defensive back Rahmareon Roby is the ball hawk, leading NCC with four interceptions, including two pick-sixes, with one coming right before halftime in the Cardinals’ third-round victory over Wisconsin-La Crosse.

When Does North Central Football Play Next?

The Cardinals will be gunning for their sixth straight Stagg Bowl appearance Saturday in the national semifinals against North Coast Athletic Conference champion John Carroll, with kickoff scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET in Naperville.

Should NCC win this weekend, it would be one more Stagg Bowl trip away from equalling Wisconsin-Whitewater’s legendary run of seven straight national championship game trips from 2005-11, and the Cardinals would face the winner of the other semifinal game between Wisconsin-River Falls and Johns Hopkins on Jan. 4 at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio.

Here Is The D3 Football Playoffs Semi-Final Schedule

Two games kick off on Dec. 20. Here is the schedule! 

Semifinals — Saturday, Dec. 20

• 1 PM ET: UW–River Falls vs. Johns Hopkins
• 4:30 PM ET: John Carroll vs. North Central (Illinois)

Who Are The Four Teams Left In The D3 Football Playoffs?

The field has shrank from 40 to four in just a few short weeks. Here are the remaining four teams left in the playoffs. 

• UW-River Falls 
• Johns Hopkins
• John Carroll
• North Central (IL.)

How To Watch NCAA D3 Playoffs

The quarterfinal round of the NCAA D3 football playoffs will be streamed live on ESPN + on Dec. 13. 

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