| Year Game Played: | 2023 |
| Game Name: | NAIA Football National Championship |
| Visitor Name Short: | Northwestern |
| Visitor Nickname: | Red Raiders |
| Visitor School: | Northwestern College (Iowa) |
| Visitor Record: | 14–0 |
| Visitor Conference: | GPAC |
| Home Name Short: | Keiser |
| Home Nickname: | Seahawks |
| Home School: | Keiser University |
| Home Record: | 11–2 |
| Home Conference: | TSC |
| Football Season: | 2023 |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 14 |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Home 2Q: | 10 |
| Home 3Q: | 7 |
| Home 4Q: | 7 |
| Visitor Coach: | Matt McCarty |
| Visitor Seed: | 1 |
| Home Coach: | Doug Socha |
| Home Seed: | 3 |
| Date Game Played: | December 18 |
| Stadium: | Durham County Memorial Stadium |
| City: | Durham, North Carolina |
| Mvp: | Jaden Meizinger (RB, Keiser) (Offensive) Maddox Aprile (DL, Keiser) (Defensive) |
| Referee: | Brad Bunting |
| Attendance: | 1,183 |
The 2023 NAIA football national championship was a five-round, twenty team tournament played between November 18 and December 18, 2023. The tournament concluded with a single game, played as the 68th Annual NAIA Football National Championship.
The championship game was played at Durham County Memorial Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, between the undefeated 14–0 No. 1 Northwestern Red Raiders, representing Northwestern College from Orange City, Iowa, and the 11–2 No. 3 Keiser Seahawks, representing Keiser University from West Palm Beach, Florida. The game was played on December 18, 2023, with kickoff at 12:00 p.m. EST (11:00 a.m. local CST).
See main article: 2023 Northwestern Red Raiders football team. The Northwestern Red Raiders, led by 8th-year head coach Matt McCarty, entered the national championship game as the No. 1 seed and defending national champions. They were seeking to win their fourth national championship overall, having won in 1973, 1983, and 2022. They entered the game 14–0, 10–0 in GPAC play.
| style= colspan=3 | 2020 Northwestern (IA) Football | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep. 2 | at * | W 48–35 | |
| Sep. 9 | Drake | W 27–24OT | |
| Sep. 16 | W 51–7 | ||
| Sep. 23 | at * | W 42–0 | |
| Sep. 30 | at * | W 42–21 | |
| Oct. 7 | W 45–7 | ||
| Oct. 14 | at * | W 37–8 | |
| Oct. 21 | No. 22 * | W 35–14 | |
| Oct. 28 | No. 3 * | W 34–20 | |
| Nov. 4 | at * | W 49–28 | |
| Nov. 11 | W 40–11 | ||
| NAIA Playoffs (No. 1 seed) | |||
| Nov. 25 | No. 14 Dordt | W 7–0 | |
| Dec. 2 | No. 12 | W 34–17 | |
| Dec. 9 | No. 4 | W 35–10 |
See main article: 2023 Keiser Seahawks football team. The Keiser Seahawks, led by 6th-year head coach Doug Socha, entered the national championship game as the No. 3 seed and were looking to win the program's first-ever NAIA National Championship. They entered the game 11–2, 7–0 in Sun Conference play.
| style= colspan=3 | 2023 Keiser Football | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug. 31 | L 14–17 | ||
| Sep. 9 | at No. 9 | W 30–26 | |
| Sep. 16 | at | L 25–49 | |
| Sep. 30 | W 44–12 | ||
| Oct. 7 | No. 16 * | W 21–14 | |
| Oct. 14 | at * | W 69–6 | |
| Oct. 21 | W 51–21 | ||
| Oct. 28 | at * | W 54–7 | |
| Nov. 4 | W 59–17 | ||
| Nov. 11 | at * | W 44–13 | |
| NAIA Playoffs (No. 3 seed) | |||
| Nov. 25 | No. 13 St. Thomas (FL) | W 45–21 | |
| Dec. 2 | No. 7 | W 56–14 | |
| Dec. 9 | No. 11 | W 28–21 |
| Losing team | |||||||
| 1 | December 17, 2022 | Durham, NC | No. 3 Northwestern (IA) | 35 | No. 12 Keiser | 25 | |
| Northwestern (IA) leads 1–0 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statistics | style= | KU ! | style= | NWC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First downs | 23 | 21 | ||
| Total yards | 490 | 338 | ||
| Rushes–yards | 45–373 | 30–51 | ||
| Passing yards | 117 | 287 | ||
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 10–15–2 | 15–34–1 | ||
| Time of possession | 28:58 | 31:02 | ||
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keiser | Passing | Justin Wake | 10/15, 117 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT |
| Rushing | Jaden Meizinger | 22 carries, 261 yards, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Maurico Porcha | 2 receptions, 45 yards, 1 TD | |
| Northwestern (IA) | Passing | Jalyn Gramstad | 15/34, 287 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT |
| Rushing | Jalyn Gramstad | 18 carries, 47 yards | |
| Receiving | Michael Storey | 6 receptions, 121 yards |
A total of sixteen teams were selected to participate in the single-elimination tournament from across the country, with invitations that were revealed on Sunday, November 12, 2023. The field included thirteen conference champions who received automatic bids. The field was then filled with at-large selections that were awarded to the highest ranked teams that were not conference champions. First-round seedings were based on the final regular-season edition of the 2023 NAIA Coaches' Poll, with certain minor modifications given based on travel and geographic considerations. Each subsequent round also saw minor modifications based on travel and the geography of the remaining teams.[3]
Second round pairings were announced by the NAIA on November 18, after the first round results were known.[4]
Quarterfinal pairings were announced by the NAIA on November 25, after the second round results were known.
Semifinal pairings were announced by the NAIA on December 2, soon after completion of the day's quarterfinal games.[5]