KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association will host its annual Football Media Day on Monday, July 27, on the campus of Washburn University.
 
All ten MIAA football teams will travel to Topeka for the Association's 2026 Football Media Day. The action will take place inside Washburn University's Indoor Athletic Facility. Completed in November 2020,  Washburn's indoor facility features a 200-meter, six-lane, banked track as well as a 110-yard synthetic turf practice field. 

UNK will be represented by head coach Ryan Held and 2026 All-MIAA Selections Carter Klein (Pleasanton) and Parker Wise (Kearney). The Lopers are coming off a 6-5 season with Klein (center) and Wise (linebacker) part of a nearly a 140-man roster. The team begins camp on Monday, Aug. 3. 
 
The event will begin with brief comments and NCAA Division II football updates from MIAA Commissioner Mike Racy and the league's Supervisor of Officials Phil Laurie and proceed with each team participating in a 15-minute press conference featuring MIAA head coaches and student-athletes. The official press conference schedule is listed below.
 
MIAA Football Media Day is an invite-only event. This will mark the second year the event is hosted by a MIAA institution and the first year it's hosted by Washburn. Last year's 2025 MIAA Football Media Day was hosted on the campus of Emporia State University.
 
MIAA fans can watch the press conferences live, exclusively on The MIAA Network.
 
The 2026 NCAA Division II football season officially kicks off Thursday, August 27. To view the week-by-week schedules for all ten MIAA teams, visit theMIAA.com/football.
 
2026 FOOTBALL MEDIA DAY PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Opening
9:30 a.m. — MIAA Commissioner, Mike Racy
9:45 a.m. — MIAA Supervisor of Officials, Phil Laurie

Session I
10:00 a.m. — Missouri Western
10:15 a.m. — Central Missouri
10:30 a.m. — Northwest Missouri
10:45 a.m. — Break
11:00 a.m. — Central Oklahoma
11:15 a.m. — Nebraska Kearney

Session II
12:00 p.m. — Washburn
12:15 p.m. — Emporia State
12:30 p.m. — Fort Hays State
12:45 p.m. — Break
1:00 p.m. — Missouri Southern
1:15 p.m. — Pittsburg State