Brad Spencer's North Central College football team swept every ballot in the nation's top Division III coaches poll.

The Cardinals earned all 50 first-place votes in the American Football Coaches Association Division III Preseason Top 25 Poll, announced Monday, Aug. 24, making NCC the unanimous national No. 1 for the third consecutive season. The AFCA poll is voted on by a panel of 50 D3 head coaches across the country, a distinction beyond the CCIW conference poll that already tabbed NCC as the league favorite for the fifth straight year.

No program in the country has been more dominant.

Spencer's Cardinals have reached back-to-back Stagg Bowls, winning the 2024 national championship with a 41-25 victory over Mount Union in Houston before falling 24-14 to UW-River Falls in the Jan. 4 title game in Canton, Ohio.

Three Cardinals landed on D3football.com's preseason All-America list ahead of the 2026 season: quarterback Garret Wilson and offensive lineman Cortez Jones on the First Team, and linebacker Matt Janiak on the Third Team. The program also produced the 2025 Cliff Harris Award winner in defensive lineman J.P. Sullivan, a Lakes Community High School graduate who posted 73 tackles, eight sacks, 22 tackles for loss and 21 quarterback hurries in his senior season before graduating. Sullivan was named the top small-college defensive player in Division III.

NCC plays its home games at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on the Naperville campus at 310 E. Benton Ave. The Cardinals are scheduled to open the 2026 season at home Saturday, Sept. 5.

This week in Naperville sports

Saturday, Sept. 5 — North Central College football home opener, Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium (310 E. Benton Ave.). Time and opponent TBA via northcentralcardinals.com. Admission varies for NCC home events.