The University of Sioux Falls is set to exit the NAIA. Before the GPAC kings return their crown and head off into the distance in search of bigger prizes, they must go through one more season in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. One of the Cougars biggest rivals has turned into Northwestern College. The two programs have never met on opening day of the season, but they will this season. The series has been dominated by Sioux Falls in the last decade, outscoring the Red Raiders 243-96 since 2002, although NWC leads the all-time series. In six of the eight matchups, the Cougars have scored first. Northwestern hasn’t been to the NAIA Championship Series since 2006 and an upset of Sioux Falls would go a long way to ending the postseason drought. Over 4,000 people on average attend this rivalry each year and this year shouldn’t be any different.

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Lindenwood University is coming off of its best season in program history after finishing with a 13-1 record and a loss to Sioux Falls in the NAIA National Championship game in Rome. Evangel begins a new era this week under Brenton Illum and will try to turn around a season that finished with a 3-7 mark in 2009. Lindenwood appears poised for a national championship run, while Evangel is trying to rebuild its program.

It will be a tough opener to the season for Evangel, but it gives us a chance to see the No. 2 and No. 1 teams in the country in the opening week of the season. After this game we travel to Orange City, IA where the defending National Champion Sioux Falls Cougars will challenge Northwestern. But before we get into that game, let’s take a look at Lindenwood vs Evangel.