Oct. 27, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In the seventh regular season NAIA Football Top 25 Coaches’ Poll announced today (Oct. 27), the top six programs stayed undefeated and held their spots including No. 1 Carroll (Mont.). Holding the most wins in the country with nine, Carroll flexed its muscle in the 37-0 victory over No. 19 Montana State-Northern last Saturday. The Fighting Saints earned all 17 of the possible first-place votes for the ninth consecutive time and came away with 392 total points. Carroll boasts the longest active winning streak in the NAIA with 24 straight and next faces Montana Tech on the road (Nov. 1).

In the second spot is Sioux Falls (S.D.), which notched 377 total points. The Cougars have been winning thanks in large part to their defense. During its 7-0 start, USF hails the country’s No. 1 scoring defense (3.4 ppg) and has shut-out five of its seven opponents. However, two of the final three remaining opponents are in the Top 25 including this week’s game against No. 8 Northwestern (Iowa).

No. 3 St. Francis (Ind.) stayed perfect at 7-0 after a 52-12 win and is the No. 1 scoring offense (48.0 ppg) in the country. The Cougars earned 361 points this week. No. 4 Morningside is next with 345 points while No. 5 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), which had a bye last weekend, has 336 points.

No. 20 Dickinson State (N.D.) and No. 24 Baker (Kan.) are the only teams to hop into the Top 25 this week. DSU may be one of the hottest teams in the NAIA winning its last five games. After a 0-3 start, the Hawks own first place in the Dakota Athletic Conference standings with a perfect 5-0 mark. With a 6-2 overall record, Baker is also on a tear. The Wildcats own a five-game winning streak and have upended their opposition outscoring them by a 26.6 margin during that streak.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and independents. The eighth regular season Top 25 poll will be announced on Nov. 3.

For more information on NAIA football, please click here.

NOTES: Two teams drop out of the poll this week – Montana State-Northern was at No. 19 and Black Hills State (S.D.) was at No. 17; MSU-Northern lost 37-0 at No. 1 Carroll (Mont.) while BHSU dropped a 23-13 decision to Minot State (N.D.)… Dickinson State is in the Top 25 for the first time since the 2006 Preseason poll (Aug. 16, 2006) at No. 7… Baker is finding itself ranked for the first time since Oct. 9, 2001 when the Wildcats were No. 23… With its current 24-game winning streak, Carroll is looking at a ways to go to catch the all-time national record set by Texas A&I in the mid-70s (42 games)… After a 0-2 start and dropping from the national rankings, St. Xavier (Ill.) is back on the map winning its last six straight … Since 2004 when Ohio Dominican started varsity football, the Panthers have been ranked in 31 of a possible 60 polls – those 31 polls happen to be the last 31 straight weeks… Since 2000, Carroll has been No. 1 a total of 50 times, the highest amount of any program during that time span; Sioux Falls is second with 28 mentions at No. 1 followed by Georgetown (Ky.) with 14, Northwestern Oklahoma State with 11 and Saint Francis (Ind.) with three… The last time a team other than Carroll and Sioux Falls has been No. 1 was Saint Francis on Nov. 12, 2006… Carroll has now been ranked in the Top 5 in the last 47 straight polls dating back to November of 2004… St. Francis boasts the longest consecutive stretch of being named in the Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – now standing at 113 straight mentions… The last time USF was not mentioned in the Top 25 was Oct. 19, 1999… Carroll (Mont.) is the next team in line with 100 straight Top 25 rankings while Sioux Falls (S.D.) stands at 99 straight mentions.

2008 NAIA Football Top 25 Coaches’ Poll – (Oct. 27)

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL (1st PLACE VOTES)	2008 RECORD*	TOTAL POINTS
1	1	Carroll College (Mont.) (17)	9-0	392
2	2	University of Sioux Falls (S.D.)	7-0	377
3	3	University of Saint Francis (Ind.)	7-0	361
4	4	Morningside College (Iowa)	7-0	345
5	5	MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.)	7-0	336
6	6	Friends University (Kan.)	7-0	316
7	9	Missouri Valley College	6-1	285
8	10	Northwestern College (Iowa)	7-1	281
9	7	Lindenwood University (Mo.)	6-1	280
10	11	University of Virginia's College at Wise	8-1	259
11	12	University of the Cumberlands (Ky.)	7-1	241
12	13	Saint Xavier University (Ill.)	6-2	222
13	16	Langston University (Okla.)	6-2	215
14	15	Bethel College (Kan.)	6-1	198
15	8	Northwestern Oklahoma State University	6-2	176
16	18	Malone University (Ohio)	5-1	157
17	21	Lambuth University (Tenn.)	6-2	128
18	20	Jamestown College (N.D.)	6-2	109
19	22	Ottawa University (Kan.)	6-1	106
20	NR	Dickinson State University (N.D.)	5-3	104
21	14	Union College (Ky.)	6-2	83
22	25	Shorter College (Ga.)	6-2	79
23	23	Saint Ambrose University (Iowa)	5-3	71
24	NR	Baker University (Kan.)	6-2	57
25	24	Ohio Dominican University	4-3	39

Others receiving votes:

Montana State University-Northern 32; University of St. Francis (Ill.) 14; Black Hills State University (S.D.) 11; Minot State University (N.D.) 5; William Penn University (Iowa) 4; Quincy University (Ill.) 3; Cumberland University (Tenn.) 1; Dakota Wesleyan University (S.D.) 1

* Records as submitted by schools and raters