The preseason rankings in July buried Northwest Missouri State in the middle of a wide open conference.
The MIAA poll voted on by coaches tabbed the Bearcats at No. 6 in the 10-team league.
The Green & White had no plans of settling there, though.
"Really, for the seniors — this year means a lot," Bearcat head coach John McMenamin said during the weekly Coaches Show on KXCV-KRNW. "I don't ever like to use the 'rebuild' word or anything like that because these guys have put five years and six years in, so we have to do it all for now."
Expectations outside of Maryville were low after a 6-5 campaign in 2024 that saw the Bearcats miss the playoffs for the second year in a row.
That wasn't the feeling around the team as they began their climb back to prominence with off-season workouts through the cold winter months.
Now at the midpoint to the 2025 season, Northwest has reeled off five straight wins, is ranked in the top 20 nationally by the AFCA and D2Football.com, owns a perfect MIAA record and currently sits alone atop the conference that overlooked them.
McMenamin is quick to credit the senior class for the turnaround. From Luke Mathews pacing the team in all receiving categories to starting linebackers Carter Edwards, Ben Einess and Parker Bowen atop the pack in tackles, the upperclassmen have a stranglehold on the stats that tell the story of Northwest's five-game win streak.
More than just numbers, though, the impact of that older class of Bearcats is felt by the intangibles that arrive in the film room, at practice, and on gamedays.
"Those seniors have led the way we needed them to," McMenamin said. "They take nothing for granted."
The next test for the Bearcats comes against Fort Hays State.
The Tigers were picked third in the MIAA preseason rankings by coaches and media.
It's an opportunity for the Bearcats to further upend the mid-summer predictions and tighten their grip on the conference.
