The 2018 Champions Indoor Football season was the fourth season of the

CIF Cif is a French brand of household cleaning products owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif was launched in France in 1965 and was marketed in competi ...

. The regular season began on March 3, when the

Wichita Force The Wichita Force are a professional indoor football team based in Wichita, Kansas, with home games in Wichita Ice Center. The team was founded in 2014 as an expansion franchise in the Champions Indoor Football league for the 2015 season. The Fo ...

traveled to Salina Liberty, losing 17–15. The regular season concluded on June 10. This was the second season in which four teams per conference advanced to the Champions Bowl playoffs, with the top seed in each conference hosting their conference's fourth seed, and second seeds hosting third seeds in the first round. The league champion was the

Duke City Gladiators The Duke City Gladiators are a professional indoor football team based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, a suburb of Albuquerque, New Mexico. They began play in March 2015 as members of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) league. The Gladiators played a ...

over the

Sioux City Bandits The Sioux City Bandits are a professional indoor football team based in Sioux City, Iowa, and compete as a member of Champions Indoor Football (CIF). The team was founded in 1999 as the Sioux City Attack. In 2001, the team assumed their current ...

31–27 in Champions Bowl IV. The regular season MVP was

running back Darrian Miller.

League changes

On August 16, 2017, the CIF announced the

Quad City Steamwheelers The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the AF2 and played their home games at iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. The team was founded on September 1, 1999 when the Quad Cities was ...

as an expansion team for 2018. On August 30, the league announced the addition of the

Sioux Falls Storm The Sioux Falls Storm are a professional indoor football team based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Storm joined the original Indoor Football League as an expansion team in 1999 as the Sioux Falls Cobras, and first took the field for the 2000 ...

from the Indoor Football League (IFL). The

Wichita Falls Nighthawks The Wichita Falls Nighthawks were a professional indoor American football team. They were based in Wichita Falls, Texas. The team was headquartered in Wichita Falls and played its home games at Kay Yeager Coliseum. The Nighthawks first joined th ...

of the IFL also joined on September 12. On the same day the Nighthawks joined, the

Bloomington Edge The Bloomington Edge was a professional indoor football team based in Bloomington, Illinois. While it was in operation, the team hosted home games at Grossinger Motors Arena. Originally named the Bloomington Extreme, the team was a member of Un ...

and

West Michigan Ironmen The West Michigan Ironmen are a professional indoor football team based in Muskegon, Michigan (and representing the larger region which also includes Grand Rapids and Holland), the Ironmen play their home games at Mercy Health Arena. The team j ...

left the CIF for the IFL. The CIF apparently then attempted to sue the IFL, Edge, and Ironmen for leaving the CIF after the two teams had already signed league affiliation agreements with the CIF for 2018. The IFL then threatened to sue the CIF, Storm, and Nighthawks in return despite neither former IFL team signing an affiliation agreement with the IFL for 2018. To avoid disputes, the CIF stated they would not schedule either team. The Storm immediately announced that they would return to the IFL and the Nighthawks had to suspend operations. While the CIF did drop the lawsuit against the IFL, it filed for an injunction against the Edge and Ironmen teams from participating in the IFL for breaking the terms of their signed affiliation agreements. A temporary injunction from participation against the two teams was granted on January 31, 2018. The Ironmen later announced a change in ownership,. were granted approval to return to the CIF for the 2019 season and were allowed to play the 2018 season in the semi-professional Midwest Professional Indoor Football (MPIF) during the 2018 season. The Edge then played an independent schedule after the conclusion of the 2018 CIF season to meet the terms of the injunction. Prior to the season, Dallas Marshals were sold and moved to the Fair Park Coliseum due to arena lease issues in negotiations with the new Mesquite Arena owners. The Marshals played two regular season home games on March 3 and 10, however, they canceled their next two for March 24 and April 14 on the day of the games. After the April 14 postponed game, the CIF issued a statement that a decision concerning the team is pending. The Marshals played an away game at the Texas Revolution on April 21, and the Fair Park Coliseum listed all remaining Marshals' games as postponed. On April 27, the team suspended operations for the rest of the season.

Standings

:z - clinched top overall seed :x - clinched conference title :y - clinched playoff berth

Playoffs

References

{{CIF Champions Indoor Football seasons