CFB Zeitgeist
June 22, 2026 · Dead Period · Heritage Window · 2026 Outlook

Merchant Marine Academy

8-2 2025 final

The Mariners of Kings Point, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy's NEWMAC program, where future ship's officers play Division III football as a fourth service academy and meet Coast Guard for the Secretaries Cup.

The Mariners keep the faith.

Record
8-2
win% .800
Conference
2nd of 8
NEWMAC · 5-2
Index Rating
62.6
D3 #37 of 240
Playoff Path
In the field
Dead PeriodOffseasonPatientPost-win — basking
The Long Wait·Offseason

The Mariners of Kings Point, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy's NEWMAC program, where future ship's officers play Division III football as a fourth service academy and meet Coast Guard for the Secretaries Cup.

Standard GapA federal service academy playing small-college football — discipline an…

Keep the Secretaries Cup in Kings Point, win a NEWMAC title, and prove a service academy can compete on Saturdays while training mariners for sea.

low signal
Read the full program story ↓

Offseason

69 days

until kickoff · Sun Aug 30 · 17:00 UTC

Act I

The 2026 Outlook

DIVISION III · THE PATH TO THE STAGG BOWL

Merchant Marine Academy sits 2nd in the NEWMAC and 37th of 240 in the CFB Zeitgeist — inside the projected 40-team field on the at-large math.

NEWMAC · 2025
TeamConfOverallIndex
1Springfield7-09-362.7
2Merchant Marine Academy5-28-262.6
3Coast Guard5-27-358.9
4MIT4-36-353.6
5Salve Regina3-46-454.2
6SUNY Maritime3-45-649.4
7Worcester Polytechnic Institute1-62-840.8
8Norwich0-71-933.5
62.6 CFB Zeitgeist#37 of 240 D349.9 strength of schedule3 quality wins

Win the NEWMAC for the automatic berth into the 40-team NCAA Division III bracket. Miss it and the path is an at-large bid, selected by NPI — the metric the CFB Index mirrors. Six wins survive the bracket to the Stagg Bowl.

Source: CFB Zeitgeist — conference records + NPI-style rating from 2025 games · the field is 40 teams, NPI-selected
THE 2025 SEASON · 8-2
W 29-15 vs Montclair State · Wk 2+14MontclaiW 56-24 at Nichols College · Wk 3+32Nichols W 49-0 at Norwich · Wk 5+49NorwichW 6-3 vs MIT · Wk 6+3MITL 14-34 vs SUNY Maritime · Wk 7-20SUNY MarW 38-34 at Salve Regina · Wk 8+4Salve ReL 7-35 at Springfield · Wk 9-28SpringfiW 34-14 vs Worcester Polytechnic Institute · Wk 11+20WorcesteW 39-38 vs Coast Guard · Wk 12+1Coast GuW 27-24 at Curry College · Wk 13+3Curry Co

Signature win 49-0 over Norwich; toughest day 7-35 against Springfield.

The Pulse on Merchant Marine Academy

Quiet · dead period heritage · signal ramps back in camp
The Mariners keep the faith.

What moved it — offseason · last 30 days

June Dead-period quiet — official-visit + heritage window
Camp Fall camp ~40 days out
"Go Mariners." — Merchant Marine Academy fanbase · recurring line
0 mentions · awaiting signal

Aspiration Ladder

Brief Part III §33.4 · Merchant Marine Academy

Winning record

The baseline for a successful season.

Conference title

The primary goal and national bracket path.

32-team bracket qualifierLocked

One of 32 national tournament entries.

Stagg BowlLocked

The Division III national championship game.

Merchant Marine Academy · Next-Season Outcome Band

Floor / Base / Ceiling

floor6-6Competitive but likely outside bracket contention.
base8-4Conference title contender. Bracket bid realistic.
ceiling11-1Deep playoff run. Program-defining year.

Variance assumed at ±2 wins from last-season record. Replace with the season-path projection once preview data is built.

Act II

Who We Are

Home-Field Advantage · Merchant Marine Academy · 2018-present

Soft

66% home win rate vs 72% on the road. margin runs -3.4 weaker at home.

Home12-6Away13-5
Act III

Last Season Reviewed

2025 season · tap to expand

Recent Form · last 10 games

Warming

Four of five. The board favors this trend.

Streak W3Last 5 · 4-1Last 10 · 8-2

Schedule Strength · Merchant Marine Academy · 2025

Balanced

Average opponent win rate 48% across 10 finalized games. Balanced slate across the conference slate.

Opp Win %0.490

Moment of the Year · Merchant Marine Academy · 2025

Won 29-15 vs Montclair State

Week 2 of 2025. The single game that defined the season's arc.

Decisive Margin

From the Archive — Merchant Marine Academy

2023: Won 36-19 vs SUNY Maritime

In 2023, the program won 36-19 vs SUNY Maritime — a comfortable home result that left the 17-point margin on the books.

Go Mariners.