First Downs & Second Guesses
First Downs and Second Guesses is Dr. Brennan’s opinion page on contemporary issues affecting coaches and athletes today. The topic could debate sports on the professional, collegiate, high school, or youth sports level. The topic could be non-sport-related, but it still might affect athletics on some level. Whichever way it is delivered, Dr. Brennan has a strong opinion on it. Hope you enjoy it.
Welcome to this edition of First Downs and Second Guesses Blog #214 – September 2026First Downs and Second Guesses
Welcome to this edition of
First Downs and Second Guesses
Blog #214 – September 2026
Women’s collegiate flag football is the fastest growing of Emerging Sports for Women. There are over 400 varsity and club teams playing in NCAA Division I, Division II, and Division III. In addition, NAIA and junior college teams increase the number of participants.
The growth has been so impressive that the NCAA Board of Governors has approved funding to support a national championship and a sport committee in women’s flag football, moving one step closer to establishing a National Collegiate Championship ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Flag football is an Olympic sanctioned sport.
The allocation of funding will be for a Division I flag football championship. The NCAA noted that the funding approval marks another step in the continued growth of women’s flag football across the NCAA membership.
In January, the three divisions voted to pass resolutions to add women’s flag football to the Emerging Sports for Women program, which took effect for the 2026 spring season. According to a report from Collegiate Flag Football, hours after all three divisions added the sport, the University of Nebraska announced plans to establish a varsity team, becoming the first Power 4 school to do so. Now, more than 20 D-1 programs have announced intentions to launch teams by 2028.
The NAIA started the flag football movement in 2021. Hundreds of schools participated, with Warner University in Florida winning the national championship.
When the NCAA adopted the recommendations of the Gender Equity Task Force in 1994, one of the recommendations was the creation of the list of emerging sports for women to help close the participation gap between men’s and women’s sports. Nine sports were on the original list.
Since then, eight sports have become national championship sports: Beach volleyball, rowing, ice hockey, water polo, bowling, women’s wrestling, acrobatics and tumbling, and stunt. In 2024-25, emerging sports accounted for nearly 7000 participation opportunities for student-athletes based on NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates data, an increase of over 20% from 2023-24.
The University of Nebraska hired twin sisters with NAIA championship connections to coach the team. Liz and Katie Sowers won five national championships at Ottawa University in Kansas. They have built a 21-player roster and will begin competition in spring 2027.
The Husker flag football team was also invited to participate in the inaugural College Football Playoff Flag Football Showcase in Las Vegas in January 2027. The other D-I varsity teams invited to play include Manhattan University, Eastern Michigan and Cal Poly. USC, Cal, Oklahoma, UCLA, Arizona and Arizona State will all take part in the club division.
I’m thrilled to see added female teams to collegiate athletic departments. It’s been a long time coming since the passing of Title IX legislation in 1973. I’m also proud of my alma mater adding flag football as the 25th varsity Husker sport. You can bet that Husker fans will show up in droves to watch the games. Plus, all players are guaranteed full athletic scholarships. Not bad for a new emerging sport.