2017 NAIA Football Coaches’ Top 25 Poll — No. 7

by | Oct 23, 2017 | Football Blogs, Headlines, RRSN News | 0 comments

2017 NAIA Football Coaches’ Top 25 Poll — No. 7

October 23, 2017
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By Alan Grosbach, Associate Director of Athletic Communications and Media

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Cougars of Saint Francis (Ind.) were the unanimous No. 1 once again in the 2017 NAIA Football Coaches Poll, the national office announced Monday. Saint Francis, which has been ranked No. 1 for 10-straight polls, garnered all 15 first-place votes and 340 total points.

Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999)
• Saint Francis boasts the No. 1 ranking for the 13th time in program history, which is the sixth-most top billings dating back to 1999.
• The Cougars improved to 8-0 on the season and extended their winning streak to 17-straight games with a 56-23 victory over Missouri Baptist. Saint Francis rests atop the Mid-States Football Association Mideast standings at 4-0 with two games remaining on its regular-season schedule
• Saint Francis hosts Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) on Saturday.
• There was no movement in the top 12 this week.
• No. 25 Dakota State (S.D.) is the lone newcomer this edition. The Trojans are 6-2 on the season and have a key showdown with No. 15 Dickinson State (N.D.) on Saturday. Prior to today, Dakota State was most recently ranked on October 24, 2016.
• Carroll (Mont.) owns the most No. 1 rankings with 58, followed by former NAIA member Sioux Falls (S.D.) (55), No. 9 Georgetown (25), No. 4 Morningside (Iowa) (20), No. 10 Saint Xavier (Ill.) (14) and Saint Francis (13).
• Morningside holds the longest active streak with 133-straight Top 25 mentions. Additionally, the Mustangs have been ranked within the top 10 in 82-straight polls.

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. 7 (October 23, 2017)

RANK LAST TIME^ SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) 2017 RECORD TOTAL POINTS
1 1 Saint Francis (Ind.) (15) 8-0 340
2 2 Baker (Kan.) 8-0 327
3 3 Reinhardt (Ga.) 6-0 312
4 4 Morningside (Iowa) 8-0 303
5 5 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 7-0 286
6 6 Grand View (Iowa) 7-1 272
7 7 Southern Oregon 7-0 265
8 8 Langston (Okla.) 7-0 237
9 9 Georgetown (Ky.) 6-0 235
10 10 Saint Xavier (Ill.) 6-1 223
11 11 Montana Tech 6-1 218
12 12 Benedictine (Kan.) 7-1 201
13 14 Southeastern (Fla.) 6-1 179
14 15 Northwestern (Iowa) 7-1 170
15 16 Dickinson State (N.D.) 6-1 157
16 17 Concordia (Mich.) 7-1 150
17 18 SAGU (Texas) 6-1 129
18 T20 Sterling (Kan.) 6-2 109
19 T20 Tabor (Kan.) 6-2 104
20 25 Campbellsville (Ky.) 6-0 96
21 13 Marian (Ind.) 4-3 85
22 22 Cumberland (Tenn.) 6-3 52
23 23 Arizona Christian 5-3 36
24 19 Doane (Neb.) 4-3 35
25 NR Dakota State (S.D.) 6-2 25

Dropped from the Top 25: Kansas Wesleyan (No. 24)

Others Receiving Votes: Kansas Wesleyan 7; Evangel (Mo.) 6; Oklahoma Panhandle State 5; Montana Western 4; Concordia (Neb.) 4; Peru State (Neb.) 3.

^ Top 25 ranking from Oct. 16, 2017 Top 25 Poll

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