The Southwestern College football team is the top preseason pick to win the new Kessinger Division of the KCAC.
The Moundbuilders were picked first in both the media and coaches polls.
Kansas Wesleyan is the top preseason choice in the new Bissell Division.
The Builders finished the regular season 9-1 last year and were selected to playin the first round of the NAIA Football Championship Series. SC fell to Benedictine 35-7 in Atchison.
With the addition of Evangel University as a full-member school in 2023, the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference now has 12 football-playing institutions and is now a two-division format, according to a news release from the KCAC last month.
Here are the results of the 2023 KCAC Football Preseason Coaches’ and Media Polls for the Kessinger Division! #KCACfb@NAIA @NAIAFBALL pic.twitter.com/6YGnNIdixP
— Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (@kcacsports) August 2, 2023
“It is my privilege to make this formal announcement today honoring two legendary KCAC football coaches who contributed greatly to the game they loved and to the student-athletes they impacted positively over the course of their careers,” Dr. Scott Crawford, KCAC commissioner, stated on July 20. “We are proud to name the new KCAC football divisions after Dr. Ted Kessinger and Mr. Gene Bissell.”
According to the KCAC, Kessinger coached at Bethany College for 28 seasons (1976-2003), winning 219 games, 16 conference championships, and 10 appearances in the NAIA Playoffs. His 219 wins rank No. 7 all-time in the NAIA. Kessinger was the KCAC Coach of the Year 11 times, and never suffered a losing season while at the helm of the Swedes.
Kessinger was inducted into the Bethany College Athletics Hall of Honor in 1999, the NAIA Hall of Fame in 2003, the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2005, and the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 2010.
Here are the results of the 2023 KCAC Football Preseason Coaches’ and Media Polls for the Bissell Division! #KCACfb@NAIA @NAIAFBALL pic.twitter.com/BQontuiPoK
— Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (@kcacsports) August 2, 2023
“I am honored to be mentioned alongside Coach Bissell in the naming of these divisions,” Kessinger said. “My family and I are thankful that the conference appreciates what our players and coaches did in the past, and we’re looking forward to the KCAC continuing to be one of the quality conferences in the NAIA.”
Bissell was the head coach at Kansas Wesleyan University for 26 years, winning 116 games. The Coyotes won the KCAC Football conference title four times in his time as the head coach. Bissell was inducted into the Kansas Wesleyan Coyote Hall of Fame in 1986, the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1991, and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. Coach Bissell passed away in 2016.
“My father would be so honored to have a football division named after him in the KCAC,” Nancy Tehrune, Bissell’s daughter, said. “He loved the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.”
SC will open its season on Aug. 26 in Winfield against Ottawa at 6 p.m. inside Richard Jantz Stadium.
Curt Caden, Voice of the Moundbuilders, returns for another season of live broadcasts on 95.9 Bob FM.
