2017 NAIA Football Coaches’ Top 25 Poll — No. 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Defending national champion Saint Francis (Ind.) continues to hold the No. 1 ranking in the 2017 NAIA Football Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Monday. The Cougars, who were the unanimous choice once again, garnered 366 total points.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999)
• Saint Francis, which has now been ranked No. 1 in six-straight polls, continued its dominance so far this season with a 48-23 win over then-No. 11 Saint Xavier (Ill.) last Saturday. The Cougars boast the top scoring offense in the NAIA, averaging 55 points per game.
• The schedule does not get easier for Saint Francis, as the Cougars travel to No. 8 Marian (Ind.) on Saturday. Kick off is scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT in Indianapolis, Ind.
• For the second-straight week, three new teams joined the Top 25 – No. 23 Peru State (Neb.), No. 24 Midland (Neb.) and No. 25 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.). Peru State and Midland were both ranked at some point during last season, while Dakota Wesleyan returns to the Top 25 after a one-week hiatus.
• Carroll (Mont.) owns the most No. 1 rankings with 58, followed by former NAIA member Sioux Falls (S.D.) (55), No. 12 Georgetown (Ky.) (25), No. 4 Morningside (Iowa) (20) and No. 13 Saint Xavier (14).
• Morningside holds the longest active streak with 129-straight Top 25 mentions.
Poll Methodology
• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences.
• Each conference is given one rater for every four schools in the league.
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 25 points for each first-place vote, 24 for second-place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes.”
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
2017 NAIA Football Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 3 (Sept. 25, 2017)
| RANK | LAST TIME^ | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2017 RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Saint Francis (Ind.) (15) | 4-0 | 340 |
| 2 | 2 | Baker (Kan.) | 5-0 | 327 |
| 3 | 3 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 3-0 | 311 |
| 4 | 4 | Morningside (Iowa) | 4-0 | 301 |
| 5 | 5 | Montana Tech | 4-0 | 290 |
| 6 | 6 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 4-0 | 274 |
| 7 | 8 | Grand View (Iowa) | 4-1 | 258 |
| 8 | 9 | Marian (Ind.) | 2-1 | 247 |
| 9 | 13 | Southern Oregon | 4-0 | 236 |
| 10 | 12 | Arizona Christian | 4-0 | 228 |
| 11 | 15 | Langston (Okla.) | 3-0 | 197 |
| 12 | 16 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 3-0 | 185 |
| 13 | 11 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 3-1 | 182 |
| 14 | 7 | Doane (Neb.) | 3-1 | 152 |
| 15 | 19 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 4-0 | 148 |
| 16 | 10 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 3-1 | 145 |
| 17 | 17 | Tabor (Kan.) | 2-1 | 138 |
| 18 | 14 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 4-1 | 137 |
| 19 | 18 | Sterling (Kan.) | 3-1 | 128 |
| 20 | 20 | Dickinson State (N.D.) | 3-1 | 102 |
| 21 | 25 | Concordia (Mich.) | 4-0 | 82 |
| 22 | 21 | Cumberland (Tenn.) | 4-1 | 61 |
| 23 | RV | Peru State (Neb.) | 4-1 | 48 |
| 24 | RV | Midland (Neb.) | 4-0 | 22 |
| 25 | RV | Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) | 3-2 | 14 |
Dropped from the Top 25: MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (No. 22); Eastern Oregon (No. 23); Kansas Wesleyan (No. 24); Hastings (Neb.) (No. 25)
Others Receiving Votes: Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 10; Kansas Wesleyan 5; Dakota State (S.D.) 5; Concordia (Neb.) 4; Hastings (Neb.) 4; Cumberlands (Ky.) 3.
^ Top 25 ranking from Sept. 18, 2017 Top 25 Poll
