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