Marian University will not finish the 2025 college football season and will forfeit any upcoming games. The Knights officially withdrew from the playoffs on Thursday morning before their quarterfinal matchup on Saturday because of an academic issue that has since been rectified.
It is a very disappointing end to a historic run.
Although the NAIA could’ve made an exception for this specific situation, it chose not to set a dangerous precedent for the future. The college football playoffs will now continue without its No. 6 seed.
Marian University lost only one college football game.
Marian University is a private Roman Catholic university located in Indiana. It was founded in 1851 by the Sisters of St. Francis in Oldenburg and later moved to Indianapolis in 1937.
The university enrolls approximately 5,000 students in total with around 4,000 undergraduates.
Marian competes in 24 intercollegiate varsity sports, including football. The Knights compete as members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in the Mideast League of the Mid-States Football Association. They are a powerhouse, historically speaking. This season was one of the best in school history.
Unfortunately, we will not get to see just how far this team can go.
Marian lost its only game of the regular season to the University of Indianapolis in the season-opener on Aug. 28. The Knights won each of their next 10 games by a combined score of 484-166. That includes dominant wins over No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan, No. 25 Saint Francis, No. 19 Olivet Nazarene and No. 25 Saint Xavier. They earned a first round by as the No. 6 seed in the NAIA Championship Series at 10-1.
Marian defeated No. 10 Dort University (Iowa) in the second round last weekend to advance to the Quarterfinals against No. 2 Keiser University. That game will not be played as scheduled.
The Knights are forced to forfeit because of an academic mistake.
NAIA rules forced the Knights to withdraw from the playoffs.
According to the rulebook, an NAIA student-athlete becomes immediately ineligible if he or she drops below the full-time status of 12 academic credit hours at any point during the semester. Ineligible athletes cannot play.
A Marian football player with drew from a three-credit-hour course in November, which dropped his academic load to only 11 hours. The coaching staff was not informed of his decision until Dec. 2 because of a personal change within the Office of Institutional Research.
As a result, the student-athlete played in two games as an ineligible player.
The Knights self-reported the accidental violation to the NAIA as soon as it was discovered. The student-athlete was also allowed to re-enroll in the three-credit-hour course that was dropped. He will complete this current semester with 14 credit hours. He will attain full eligibility.
However, the rules are the rules.
Marian played two games with an athlete who was ineligible and was forced to withdraw from the playoffs immediately. It will forfeit its upcoming matchup against Keiser. Keiser will advance.
Dort was not allowed back into the playoffs despite an appeal.
This entire situation could have, would have and should have been prevented. The NAIA also could’ve allowed the Knights to continue with the postseason because the student-athlete will finish with 14 hours. It chose not to do so and stood by the rules as they are written. No exception will be made.