Finlandia Football Joins UMAC

The Finlandia University football team will join the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) as an associate football member beginning with the 2021 season.

The move was approved by the UMAC Council of Presidents and Chancellors.

“We are excited to have Finlandia University join the UMAC as an associate football member next fall,” said UMAC Commissioner Corey Borchardt. “Finlandia and the UMAC successfully engaged in scheduling agreements in the past, and our membership anticipates Finlandia will now be a viable, contributing associate member in our football conference.”

With the addition of Finlandia, the UMAC will maintain its automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division III Championship for football with seven total members sponsoring the sport. Beginning in 2021, UMAC football teams will play a six-game regular season conference schedule beginning in week five. Each team will have one bye during the conference portion of the schedule.

“This affiliate membership is a great opportunity for Finlandia football and our athletic department,” said Curtis Wittenberg, Finlandia director of athletics. “The UMAC is a great fit for us as their mission and values align with ours. In addition, the fit regionally should help in terms of travel.” 

Finlandia announced the addition of football as a varsity sport in 2014 and kicked off its inaugural season in 2015 as an independent NCAA Division III member. The Lions joined the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) as an affiliate member in 2018 and will complete their membership in the MIAA with the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic year.

The league schedule for the 2021 season tentatively has the Lions playing as follows:
• October 2nd – Finlandia at University of Northwestern
• October 9th – Minnesota Morris at Finlandia
• October 16th – Martin Luther at Finlandia
• October 23rd – Finlandia at Crown College
• October 30th – Finlandia at Westminster
• November 6th – Greenville at Finlandia

Non-football schools in the conference include Bethany Lutheran, the College of Saint Scholastica, Northland College, and Wisconsin-Superior.