The Ottawa University football team opens the 2023 season on the road against no. 11 Southwestern College on Saturday, August 26 in Winfield, Kan. Due to the heat, the game will kick off at 7:30pm. The Braves are 2-2 in season openers against the Moundbuilders.

With the addition of Evangel University as a full-member school in 2023, the KCAC now has 12 football-playing institutions and will move to a two-division format starting this upcoming season. The two divisions are named after KCAC legendary head coaches Dr. Ted Kessinger and Franklin "Gene" Bissell. The Braves are in the Bissell Division. The winner of each division will earn one of the KCAC's two bids and automatically qualify for the NAIA Football Championship Series.

To set the 2023 and 2024 Divisions, the KCAC utilized total conference wins over the 2020 and 2021 seasons by all KCAC programs. Institutions were then placed into divisions using a snaking method to competitively balance the divisions. Divisional makeup will be reset every two years to maintain a competitive balance within and between each division. Each team will play all 11 conference opponents each season. In the 2023 season, cross-division play will begin on August 26 (Week 1), followed by a uniform bye week. Division play will then begin on October 14.

Joining Ottawa in the Bissell Division are Avila University, Kansas Wesleyan University, Sterling College, Tabor College, and the University of Saint Mary. Kansas Wesleyan University was selected by the KCAC coaches and media to win the Bissell Division.  Southwestern College was selected in both the coaches and media poll to win the Kessinger Division.

Saturday is the 70th meeting between Ottawa University and Southwestern College. Ottawa leads the series, 37-29-3 but have lost three straight games to the SWC. The Braves are 4-1 in the last five meetings at Richard L. Jantz Stadium. Ottawa lost the last road contest between the two teams on Sept. 4, 2021. Southwestern, then ranked no. 25, defeated OU 41-13.

Southwestern enters the 2023 season coming off a first round loss in the NAIA Football Championship Series to Benedictine College, 35-7. The Moundbuilders finished the season with an overall record of 9-2 and tied for first in the KCAC (9-1) with Avila University.