[1] After conclusion of a successful 10-game season on November 13, conference champions McPherson and runner-up Ottawa were seeded to compete in the 2010 NAIA Football National Championship.
[12] Head coach Dave Dallas begins the season bringing in 21 freshman recruits and 3 additional Junior College transfers.
[17] Wide receiver Clarence Anderson was named to the Sporting News Preseason NAIA All-American Team for 2010[18] and head coach Kent Kessinger is in his seventh year at the program.
[22] The Tabor Bluejays football team play their home games in Joel Wiens Stadium located in Hillsboro, Kansas.
[25] In his previous tenure at the program, Gardner led the Bluejays to back-to-back conference championships and was nationally ranked both years.
The start of the 2010 NAIA football season began at People's Bank Field in Ottawa, Kansas for the College Fanz First Down Classic game between two nationally ranked teams: No.
[31] Southwestern opened the season in newly renovated Richard L. Jantz Stadium against NCAA Division II Panhandle State.
Travis Eason completed the conversion with a successful kick and McPherson led 7–0, and held the lead for the remainder of the game.
Alex Farmbrough kicked a 22-yard field goal to put Tabor up by three points and they held the lead for the rest of the game.
[41] Former Southwestern college player and head coach Monty Lewis took his Friends Falcons to newly renovated Richard L. Jantz Stadium and left with a close 20–17 victory.
[50] Tabor took the field at Joel Wiens Stadium against Friends and held a close game in the first half, even taking a 7–0 lead with a 4-yard pass in the second quarter.
Tabor managed 617 yards in total offense, but it wasn't enough to stop Peru State from pulling ahead in the last quarter to win 48–45.
[57] Friends University took the lead in the first quarter when Chris Robles returned a punt for a touchdown and the team never looked back.
[62] Seventeenth-ranked Kansas Wesleyan (KW) hosted Haskell Indian Nations University in a non-conference match-up to a 59–7 victory.
[63] Bethany College traveled to North Newton and defeated conference opponent Bethel by starting with two touchdowns in the first quarter.
Bethany managed to stay with the Builders into overtime when Quarterback Darby House hit Matthew Redding with a 12-yard pass for a touchdown.
[65] The Friends Falcons recorded 446 yards of total offense and achieved 21 first downs on the way to secure a 38–13 home victory against non-conference opponent Peru State.
[69] Kansas Wesleyan's Doug Webster hit Anthony Berry with a 54-yard pass for a touchdown in the first quarter in this match-up between two nationally ranked teams.
Bethel was only able to produce 265 yards of total offense in the game and the sole touchdown came when quarterback Jason Vail hit Andrew McNary for a 29-yard pass.
Bethel's defense did manage to block an extra point kick in the fourth quarter for another bright spot for the Threshers.
Both sides missed extra points after touchdowns, but it was a field goal in the first quarter that made the difference for Sterling that led to their 22–21 victory.
Linebacker Darrick Johnson added a 46-yard fumble return for a touchdown and kicker Travis Eason put 13 points into the mix, two of which were field goals.
Southwestern's 388 yards of offense ended up providing three touchdowns, but it fell short and undefeated McPherson left Winfield with another victory and a 7–0 record after the final score of 55–21.
[84] The game is likely to be considered the biggest victory in the relatively short history of the Saint Mary program, and likely will prevent Friends from achieving a playoff berth in the NAIA national championships.
With less than one minute to go and within a span of fifteen seconds on the clock, Ottawa scored two touchdowns and took the lead back permanently to win the game 29–45.
[84] Kansas Wesleyan upset the nationally ranked Friends Falcons when Doug Webster completed a 1-yard run for a touchdown with under 4 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
[101] The Terrible Swedes of Bethany nearly surprised the NAIA world and twice held the lead against McPherson in an attempt to play "spoiler" to a perfect season for the Bulldogs.
[103] McPherson ended the game as undefeated conference champions for the regular season and earned home-field advantage for the first round of the NAIA National Championship playoffs.
Defensively, Ottawa's Eric Wilson returned a 98-yard interception for a touchdown but the final score would fall 15 points short to end at 35–20.
Noah Wooten, senior linebacker at University of Saint Mary, received the Dr. Ted Kessinger Champion of Character award.