DIII CONFERENCE · 2026 SEASON

Northwest

#57 overall#15 in DIIIRR50 −13.8Upper strength −10.88 teamsTop 25 teams 0

The weekly grind · 2026

Linfield's Pacific Northwest Dynasty

Whitworth, Pacific Lutheran, Willamette, George Fox, Puget Sound, Whitman, Pacific, and Lewis & Clark compete across Oregon and Washington in a conference that plays football in the Pacific Northwest's rain and wind — a geographic and cultural identity no other DIII conference shares.

Division III8 teamsRace: DIII BracketLeader: Linfield

Northwest · 2026 season

Three things to watch

The RivalWhitworth: Spokane's Program

Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington has become the Northwest Conference's most consistent challenger to Linfield's standard. Their Pirates recruit from Eastern Washington's wheat country and the Inland Northwest corridor — a pipeline that produces the linemen and linebackers that Pacific Northwest football demands. Whitworth has won Northwest Conference titles and appeared in the DIII bracket, competing with a program that reflects Spokane's football identity more than the state's coastal programs.

Wild CardPacific Lutheran: The South Sound Program

Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington draws from the South Puget Sound market and the Western Washington corridor, competing in the Northwest Conference with a program built on Lutheran liberal arts tradition. Their Lutes recruit from one of the country's most productive DIII talent regions — the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area and its suburbs — and compete with a style that has produced Northwest Conference championships. When Pacific Lutheran's roster is deep and their system is running, they challenge for the bracket bid every fall.

Conference standings · Northwest · 2026

Standings

# Team Conf Overall Pwr Last 5
1Linfield5-06-1-7.9
2Lewis & Clark5-16-1-11.8
3Whitworth3-24-3-10.6
4George Fox2-34-3-13.1
5Pacific Lutheran2-33-5-14.0
6Puget Sound2-42-5-16.9
7Pacific (OR)2-42-6-16.8
8Willamette1-51-7-18.6

Conference record determines standing. Power = neutral-field pts vs. all-level average. Last 5 = most recent game results.

Projected standings · Northwest · 2026

Win projection

Odds of winning at least N conference games from current power ratings — full slate played out, not locked to results. Avg = expected wins; W-L = most-likely record.

# Team W-L Pwr Avg ≥7≥6≥5≥4≥3≥2≥1
Favorites
1Linfield5-2+5.84.542151799499✓
2Whitworth4-3+3.14.121439698998✓
Challengers
3Lewis & Clark4-3+1.93.81930598496✓
4George Fox4-3+0.63.6162452799599
The field
5Pacific Lutheran3-4−0.33.4152047759399
6Pacific (OR)3-4−3.13.341742729299
Rebuilding
7Puget Sound3-4−3.22.921131618698
8Willamette3-4−4.82.82928578497

Conference power · Division III

Where we stand

# Conference Avg power Record Top team
1American Southwest
-10.6
0-2Hardin Simmons
2Wisconsin
-11.2
1-1Wisconsin Whitewater
3Michigan
-13.5
—Calvin
4Presidents'
-13.5
—Washington & Jefferson
5Southern Athletic
-13.6
0-1Berry
6Old Dominion
-13.6
—Randolph Macon
7USA South
-13.7
—LaGrange
8Centennial
-13.7
—Dickinson
9CCIW
-13.7
—North Central College
10Minnesota
-13.7
—Saint John's (MN)
11Ohio
-13.7
—Mount Union
12North Coast
-13.7
—DePauw
13Commonwealth Coast
-13.7
—Endicott
14American Rivers
-13.8
—Wartburg
15NorthwestYou are here
-13.8
—Linfield
16NEWMAC
-13.8
—Springfield
17New Jersey
-13.9
—Salisbury
18Liberty League
-14.0
—Ithaca
19Empire 8
-14.1
—SUNY Cortland
20Mid Atlantic
-14.3
—Delaware Valley
21So. Cal.
-14.3
5-4Chapman
22NESCAC
-14.4
—Trinity (CT)
23Landmark Conference
-14.4
—Susquehanna
24NACC
-14.4
—Aurora
25MSCAC
-14.6
—Bridgewater State
26Heartland
-14.8
—Mount St Joseph
27Midwest
-15.0
—Lake Forest
28Southern Collegiate Athletic
-15.2
—Texas Lutheran
29Upper Midwest
-15.5
—Northwestern (MN)

Round-robin power = strength of schedule-adjusted conference average, points vs. all-level average team. Record = Northwest's record vs. that conference across all games this season.

Whitworth, Pacific Lutheran, Willamette, George Fox, Puget Sound, Whitman, Pacific, and Lewis & Clark compete across Oregon and Washington in a conference that plays football in the Pacific Northwest's rain and wind — a geographic and cultural identity no other DIII conference shares.

Conference Snapshot

RR50−13.8
Upper Strength−10.8
Median Power−13.7
Resume Pulse38.7
Avg ATS--
Wins vs Market+0.00
Top-to-Middle Gap5.6
Combined Record28-31

`RR50`, `Upper Strength`, and `Median Power` are shown on the same public power scale as the rest of the site: points on a neutral field versus the average all-level NCAA team. Very small affiliations are gently regressed toward their subdivision baseline so a one-team outlier does not hijack the entire conference board.

Northwest Team Board

The league stack, sorted by predictive strength. Power is shown as neutral-field points versus the all-level average team, while resume is shown on a 0-100 season score.

Rank Team Record Power Resume ATS Wins vs Market Recent Form
#415 Linfield 6-1 −7.9 85 -- +0.00 4-0 over the last 4 (W6 W7 W8 W9)
#451 Whitworth 4-3 −10.6 44 -- +0.00 2-2 over the last 4 (W6 L7 L8 W9)
#478 Lewis & Clark 6-1 −11.8 81 -- +0.00 3-1 over the last 4 (W6 W7 W8 L9)
#524 George Fox 4-3 −13.1 55 -- +0.00 2-2 over the last 4 (L6 L7 W8 W9)
#544 Pacific Lutheran 3-5 −14.0 14 -- +0.00 1-3 over the last 4 (L6 W7 L8 L9)
#626 Pacific (OR) 2-6 −16.8 11 -- +0.00 2-2 over the last 4 (L6 L7 W8 W9)
#629 Puget Sound 2-5 −16.9 16 -- +0.00 2-2 over the last 4 (W6 W7 L8 L9)
#656 Willamette 1-7 −18.6 5 -- +0.00 0-4 over the last 4 (L6 L7 L8 L9)