ST. PAUL, Minn.---The 2020 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) football season was over before it started due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, commitment from conference administrators and coaches to provide student-athletes with meaningful competitive opportunities has yielded a unique 2021 spring season that is set to begin Saturday.
The UMAC conference season kicks off with Westminster College hosting Greenville University at 1 p.m. Saturday. The remaining five conference teams will see their first UMAC action the following weekend, April 2-3.
A redesigned format will see two divisions to provide conference teams three or four conference games. The “North” division will provide Crown College, Martin Luther College, University of Minnesota Morris and University of Northwestern with three conference games each in a single-round robin format. The College of St. Scholastica has opted out of the 2021 spring conference season.
The “South” division will play a double-round robin format of home-away games providing four opportunities for Greenville University, Iowa Wesleyan University and Westminster College to compete against one another. The conference will recognize divisional champions, but will not host formal “crossover” competition the weekend of May 7-8 as originally planned.
When the UMAC was last in regular action for the 2019 season, Martin Luther rolled to a second-consecutive undefeated conference season (8-0) to make its second NCAA Championship appearance in as many seasons. The Knights have now won 16-straight games against conference foes and will look to add to those numbers this spring.
Greenville finished as the runner-up with a 7-1 conference record in 2019 with its lone loss coming against the Knights. The Panthers will look to be the favorite in the “South” division this spring.
UMAC competition begins Saturday with regular season conference games concluding Saturday, May 1. Additional competition may be scheduled for open weeks – including the weekend of May 7-8 – as desired by conference schools.
Spectators will be allowed at the discretion of each UMAC institution with all institutional policies listed on our UMAC Institutional Spectator Policies Page.
Full Schedule