Bennett Moger Football 11/15/2025 6:30:00 PM Bethel wins 2025 MIAC Football championship DULUTH, Minn. – For the first time since 2013, the Bethel Royals will head to the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs as undefeated conference champions of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). | Team Champion Apparel | The Royals completed the regular season with a perfect 10-0 record overall and a 9-0 mark in conference play, securing the outright MIAC title and the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Playoffs. Bethel has now claimed the MIAC football championship in two of the last three seasons and seven times in program history. This will be the Royals' fifth straight trip to the national tournament, and the program's 13th overall. CHAMPIONSHIP APPAREL For the next 48 hours, Bethel football fans can purchase official MIAC Football team champion t-shirts, hats, and sweatshirts to commemorate the Royals' historic team title. The limited-time MIAC Championship online store is powered by UNRestricted MKTG and will accept orders until 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 17. Orders will ship 10-14 days after the store closes. Fans can purchase their official MIAC Football Championship apparel here. | Team Champion Apparel | UNDEFEATED IN 2025 Bethel is one of five programs in NCAA Division III to finish the 2025 regular season with an unblemished record. Mount Union (Ohio Athletic Conference), Wartburg (American Rivers), North Central (College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin), and Christopher Newport (New Jersey Athletic Conference). With no regular season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the MIAC utilizing a divisional structure from 2021-24, the Royals are now the first MIAC football team to defeat every other conference squad on their way to an undefeated regular season since the 2018 Saint John's Johnnies. The MIAC also played an eight-game conference schedule from 2002-2019, while Macalester competed as an independent program and then as a member of the Midwest Conference. This is the first time in a quarter-century that a MIAC football team has gone 9-0 in league play; the last program to achieve the feat was the 2000 Bethel Royals. NPI OUTLOOK The NCAA Power Index (NPI) is used to select the 13 at-large bids to the 40-team NCAA Division III Playoffs after the 27 automatic qualifiers have been determined on November 15. The D3Playbook has projected the NPI cut line for football at-large candidates to be 29. The latest NPI rankings on Saturday evening listed Bethel at No. 5 and Saint John's at No. 16. Bethel has secured its spot in the NCAA Playoffs as one of the 27 automatic qualifiers. Following the Johnnies' win over St. Olaf, SJU appears safe to land an at-large berth. SELECTION SUNDAY The complete 40-team bracket for the 2025 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs will be unveiled during the annual NCAA.com selection show at 4:00 p.m. Central time on Sunday, November 16. The first round of the NCAA Playoffs will be held on Saturday, November 22, with the second round on Saturday, November 29, and the third round on Saturday, December 6. The national quarterfinals are set for Saturday, December 13. The national semifinals will be streamed live on ESPN+ on Saturday, December 20, with ESPN set to telecast the national championship game live in primetime on Sunday, January 4, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. Central time. HAMMER GAME HISTORY The regular-season finale between Augsburg and Hamline in Minneapolis on Friday night did more than keep "The Hammer" in the Auggies' trophy case; it marked just the second time in MIAC history that both sidelines featured a Black head coach. Augsburg head coach KiJuan Ware and Hamline head coach Chip Taylor made history the first time around four years ago when Taylor's Pipers matched up with Ware's Macalester Scots in 2021. NATIONAL NOTABLES Bethel junior wide receiver Albert Rundell (Watertown, Minn. / Watertown-Mayer) finished his regular season leading all levels of college football with 1,354 receiving yards and an average of 135.4 receiving yards per game this season. His 19 receiving touchdowns are also the second-most in all of college football. Saint John's senior tight end Joey Gendreau (Shorewood, Minn. / Minnetonka) ended his regular season as the national leader among all NCAA tight ends with an average of 6.7 receptions per game. Saint John's victory over St. Scholastica in Week 10 made SJU just the 56th college football team at any level to reach 700 all-time wins. The Johnnies are now the sixth NCAA Division III program to reach the milestone and the first MIAC team to do so. The University of Minnesota is the only other Minnesota program to reach 700 victories. RECORD BREAKERS Augsburg senior wide receiver Tyrone Wilson (Ellendale, Minn. / New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva) tied the MIAC single-season record for 100-yard receiving games with six such performances in MIAC play this fall. The record of six was originally set by Macalester's Rex Desso in 2021 and matched by Gustavus' Jake Breitbach in 2023. Bethel junior quarterback Cooper Drews (Princeton, Minn. / Princeton) is now the Royals' career leader in passing touchdowns with 78 heading into the 2025 postseason. In just two seasons in a Bethel uniform, Drews has already surpassed former BU standout Jaran Roste's career mark of 70 scoring strikes. Bethel junior wide receiver Albert Rundell (Watertown, Minn. / Watertown-Mayer) set the MIAC single-game record for receptions with 21, and tied the conference record for receiving touchdowns in a single game with five, against Carleton in Week 10. In Week 11, he set a new conference record for receiving scores in league play with 17 this fall, while his 19 overall touchdown grabs tied the single-season Bethel program record and ranks third all-time among MIAC wideouts. His 90 receptions and 1,273 receiving yards in MIAC games both rank as the second-most for the conference schedule all-time, while his six 100-yard receiving games in league play match the conference record. Carleton senior quarterback Jack Curtis (Charlotte, N.C. / Ardrey Kell) finished the season with 2,918 passing yards in league games, the third-most by a MIAC passer all-time during the conference slate of contests. Curtis tied the MIAC record with seven 300-yard passing performances in conference play this fall, while his 254 completions in conference games represent a new single-season MIAC high. He will finish his collegiate career ranked eighth all-time among MIAC passers with 8,599 passing yards in overall games, and is now ninth among MIAC quarterbacks with 83 total touchdown throws in his career. Curtis' achievements in 2025 are all the more impressive against the backdrop of the September revelation that he was diagnosed with late-stage 2 "unfavorable" Hodgkin's lymphoma over the summer, and endured chemotherapy every other Monday throughout the season. Gustavus senior cornerback Eric Lyons Jr. (Fort Lauderdale, Fla. / Plantation) matched the NCAA record with a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown in the Gusties' win over Macalester in the regular-season finale on Saturday. Lyons' pick came three yards deep in the end zone; however, the NCAA maximum yardage granted for an interception return is set at 100 yards. Saint John's junior quarterback Trey Feeney (Moorhead, Minn. / Moorhead) set a new MIAC single-season record for completion percentage at 76.7 (204-of-266) in 2025. That surpasses former SJU quarterback Aaron Syverson's mark of 74.5, set in 2024. Feeney's passing efficiency rating of 192.2 in conference games is the second-best all-time, behind Syverson's mark of 199.9 last season. Saint John's senior wide receiver Dylan Wheeler (St. Paul, Minn. / Mounds View) finished the MIAC portion of his collegiate career on Saturday in good company: tied with former Johnnie wide receiver and 2025 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Blake Elliott (2000-03) for an MIAC career record with 12 100-yard receiving games in conference play. Wheeler also moved into a tie for second-place all-time in overall receiving touchdowns by a MIAC pass-catcher, joining former Bethel wide receiver Joey Kidder (2021-24) with 45 career touchdown grabs. Wheeler's 38 receiving touchdowns in conference contests are the second-most behind only Elliot's 45 against MIAC foes, while Wheeler now ranks fourth in career MIAC receiving yards with 2,467 in conference games. Saint John's senior tight end Joey Gendreau (Shorewood, Minn. / Minnetonka) caught 59 passes for 788 yards in conference play this fall, setting two new MIAC records for a tight end by surpassing the previous marks of 55 and 639, respectively. Saint John's junior kicker Matt Hansen (Longmont, Colo. / Niwot) broke the single-season MIAC records for PAT kicks attempted and made after going 61-for-61 in nine league games. Former St. Olaf kicker Paul Fortman previously owned both records after going 55-for-55 in 2007. St. Olaf sophomore kicker Ethan Hess (Marshall, Minn. / Marshall) became the Oles' single-season record-holder for field goals made with 14 in 2025. Hess connected on field goals in all but three games this season, with multiple field goal conversions in five of ten contests. WEEK 11 MIAC SCOREBOARD Augsburg 43, Hamline 3 | Box Score | Gustavus 38, Macalester 14 | Box Score | Concordia 31, Carleton 24 | Box Score | Saint John's 63, St. Olaf 21 | Box Score | Bethel 62, St. Scholastica 0 | Box Score | FINAL 2025 MIAC STANDINGS Bethel (9-0) Saint John's (8-1) Concordia (6-3) Carleton (6-3) Gustavus (5-4) Augsburg (4-5) St. Olaf (3-6) St. Scholastica (2-7) Macalester (2-7) Hamline (0-9) 2025 MIAC FOOTBALL AWARDS The 2025 MIAC Football Awards will be selected by conference coaches next week. Individual award recipients, All-Conference selections, and honorable mention distinctions will be announced on Monday, November 24.