The Mustangs are ranked third nationally in the NAIA Pre-Season Football Poll.

Morningside College is ranked third in the nation in the NAIA Football Coaches’ Pre-Season Top 25 Poll released on August 11. 

The Mustangs are coming off a 2013 season where they posted an 11-2 record, won a third consecutive Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) championship, and made a 10th consecutive post-season appearance in the NAIA Championship Series, where they advanced to the semifinals.

Morningside is one of three teams from the GPAC ranked in the NAIA Pre-Season Top 25. Northwestern College is ranked 13th and Dakota Wesleyan University is 21st.

Morningside will open the 2014 season with a 7 p.m. game against Valley City State University on Saturday, Sept. 6, in Valley City, N.D.

The Mustangs have a 101-21 record for a .828 winning percentage since the start of the 2004 season. Morningside has advanced to at least the NAIA quarterfinals eight times in the last 10 years, including an appearance in the 2012 Russell Athletic-NAIA Football National Championship Game in Rome, Ga.

Click here for the complete NAIA Football Coaches Pre-Season Top 25 Poll.