The 2007 Northern Iowa Panthers football team represented the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and grad ...

in the

2007 NCAA Division I FCS football season The 2007 NCAA Division I FCS football season, the 2007 season of college football for teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), began on August 25, 2007, and concluded on December 14, 2007, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, at the 2007 NCAA ...

. The team was coached by

Mark Farley Mark Farley (born April 5, 1963) is an American football coach. He is the head coach at the University of Northern Iowa, a position he has held since 2001. Farley started at inside linebacker at Northern Iowa from 1983 to 1985. He led the team in ...

and played their home games in the

UNI-Dome UNI-Dome (pronounced "YOU-nih-dome") is a multi-purpose stadium, on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. It opened in 1976, as the home of the UNI Panthers basketball and football teams. The facility ...

. The Panthers clinched a share of the

Gateway Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivis ...

and a playoff berth with a win against Missouri State on November 3.

Facts

*The Panthers moved into the top spot in The Sports Network's FCS Top 25 poll on October 15. It marked the first time the Panthers had been perched in the No. 1 spot in the nation since the Sports Network's poll on November 5, 1992. *On November 19, UNI became the consensus No. 1-ranked team in the nation after taking over the top spot in the FCS Coaches poll. *On November 8, Northern Iowa was ranked 30th in the nation in the Sagarin ratings. The Sagarin ratings take into account all members of Division I football. *UNI became the first-ever Gateway Football Conference school to win all six of its regular season road contests in a single season. *University of Northern Iowa (11–0) topped the bracket as the top seed after capturing the automatic qualifying berth from the Gateway Football Conference. The Panthers are making their 13th tournament appearance. *For the first time in school history the University of Northern Iowa football team drew a seed for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. *In scoring its first win over Iowa State since 1994, UNI improved its record against teams from the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) to 9–15 since 1985. *On November 18, Northern Iowa received points in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. They received 1 point; that vote came from Ray Ratto of the

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

. The Panthers became the second FCS school to receive votes in the poll, following Appalachian State who had received up to 19 votes earlier in the season. *In 23 years of league play, UNI has now captured at least a share of the Gateway Football Conference title in 13 of those seasons with nine of those being outright championships. *UNI completed the first-ever perfect regular season in the 23-year history of the Gateway Football Conference with a record of 11–0. UNI's 6–0 mark in Gateway play marked the ninth time in league history a team went undefeated against conference competition. It was the fifth time UNI has completed Gateway play with an unblemished record. *OL Chad Rinehart was named to the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

North team.

Schedule

Rankings

Coaching staff

Team players drafted into the NFL

References

{{2007 Division I FCS playoff navbox

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

Northern Iowa Panthers football seasons Missouri Valley Football Conference champion seasons

Northern Iowa Panthers football The Northern Iowa Panthers football represents the University of Northern Iowa in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level as member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). The program bega ...