December 19, 2017
By Alan Grosbach, NAIA Associate Director of Athletic Communication and Bill Scott, USF Sports Information Director
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – National champion University of Saint Francis (Ind.) kept its grip on the No. 1 ranking in the NAIA Football Coaches’ Post-season Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The Cougars claimed all 13 first-place votes and 288 total points.
Top 25 Highlights (information dates back to 1999)
• USF, which is now ranked No. 1 for the 17th time in program history, won its second national title with a 24-13 victory over No. 2 Reinhardt (Ga.) last Saturday in Daytona Beach, Fla.
• The Cougars are 19-1 when ranked No. 1, 12-0 at home, 6-0 on the road and 1-1 in neutral site games.
• USF has been ranked No. 1 in 14 consecutive Top 25 ratings, a USF record.
• The Cougars have earned 29 consecutive Top 5 Top 25 rankings.
• USF has received 135 Top 5 Top 25 rankings.
• This is USF’s 34th consecutive Top 10 Top 25 ranking.
• This is USF’s 190th Top 10 Top 25 ranking.
• USF has been ranked in the NAIA Top 25 in 37 consecutive rankings
• USF has been ranked in the Top 25 in 222 polls in 20 seasons.
• This is the 18th No. 1 ranking for a Kevin Donley coached team in NAIA.
• The Cougars have won 8 consecutive games against Top 25 opposition when USF is No. 1 and is 9-1 against Top 25 teams when ranked No. 1.
• This is the 25th consecutive poll a team from the MSFA Mideast League has been ranked No. 1.
• The Cougars (14-0) are the first team since former member Sioux Falls (S.D.) (2008, 2009) to win back-to-back titles. The win was also USF’s 23rd-straight in all competitions.
• USF is the first team to hold the No. 1 ranking for an entire season (13 editions) since Sioux Falls did it in 2009.
• No new teams joined the Top 25.
• No. 7 Georgetown (Ky.) jumped a poll-best five spots from No. 12 after reaching the quarterfinals of the 2017 NAIA Football Championship Series.
• Carroll (Mont.) owns the most No. 1 rankings with 58, followed by former NAIA member Sioux Falls (S.D.) (55), Georgetown (25), No. 18 Marian (Ind.) (22), No. 3 Morningside (Iowa) (20), Saint Francis (17) and No. 6 Saint Xavier (Ill.) (14).
• Morningside holds the longest active streak with 137-straight Top 25 mentions. Additionally, the Mustangs have been ranked within the top 10 in 86-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’ Postseason Top 25 Poll (December 19, 2017)
| RANK | PREVIOUS | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2017 RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | University of Saint Francis (Ind.) (13) | 14-0 | 288 |
| 2 | 2 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 12-1 | 277 |
| 3 | 3 | Morningside (Iowa) | 13-1 | 265 |
| 4 | 5 | Southern Oregon | 12-1 | 256 |
| 5 | 4 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 11-1 | 244 |
| 6 | 8 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 10-2 | 223 |
| 7 | 12 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 9-2 | 220 |
| 8 | 10 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 10-3 | 215 |
| 9 | 6 | Baker (Kan.) | 10-2 | 200 |
| 10 | 9 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 8-2 | 188 |
| 11 | 11 | Grand View (Iowa) | 9-3 | 174 |
| 12 | 15 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 9-3 | 166 |
| 13 | 7 | Langston (Okla.) | 10-1 | 157 |
| 14 | 13 | Dickinson State (N.D.) | 9-2 | 152 |
| 15 | 14 | Concordia (Mich.) | 9-2 | 144 |
| 16 | 16 | Sterling (Kan.) | 9-3 | 124 |
| 17 | 17 | Tabor (Kan.) | 8-2 | 108 |
| 18 | 19 | Marian (Ind.) | 7-3 | 94 |
| 19 | 18 | SAGU (Texas) | 8-3 | 92 |
| 20 | 20 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 8-2 | 76 |
| 21 | 21 | Kansas Wesleyan | 8-3 | 60 |
| 22 | 22 | Faulkner (Ala.) | 7-3 | 55 |
| 23 | 23 | Dakota State (S.D.) | 8-3 | 38 |
| 24 | 24 | Oklahoma Panhandle State | 7-3 | 35 |
| 25 | 25 | Evangel (Mo.) | 7-4 | 21 |
Dropped from the Top 25: None
Others Receiving Votes: Montana Tech 9; College of Idaho 6; Cumberland (Tenn.) 4.
