Oct. 29, 2007
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the first time this year, the top 10 teams are unchanged in the eighth regular season National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Football Top 25 Coaches' Poll, announced this afternoon (Oct. 29). Sioux Falls (S.D.) is the No. 1 team in the land for the ninth straight poll after taking down Concordia (Neb.) 48-3 last Saturday. The defending national champions now own a 22-game winning streak and hold a 39-point, average margin-of-victory this year.
For the eighth straight week, Sioux Falls earned all 17 first-place votes and 425 points. In nine polls this year (including preseason), Sioux Falls has notched 151 of a possible 153 total first-place votes. USF's streak of nine straight polls at No. 1 to start a season is the longest since Carroll (Mont.) was the No. 1 team in all 11 polls in 2005.
No. 2 Carroll (Mont.), No. 3 Ohio Dominican, No. 4 Bethel (Tenn.) and No. 5 St. Francis (Ind.) all held their spots from last week. Carroll snuck by then-No. 22 Montana State-Northern 10-3 as its defense continued its record-breaking pace. The Fighting Saints' defense, who had their 29-quarter streak of not allowing a touchdown snapped earlier this year, is giving up just 2.1 points/game. The all-time NAIA record for scoring defense in a season is held by St. Mary of the Plains (Kan.) back in 1989 when St. Mary allowed 1.3 points (13 points in 10 games).
Newcomers in the poll this week are No. 24 Black Hills State (S.D.) and No. 25 Sterling (Kan.), both sporting a five-game winning streak. The big win for Black Hills was against then-No. 8 Jamestown (N.D.) two weeks ago while Sterling's streak started with a 22-21 win against currently-ranked Northwest Oklahoma State (No. 20). BHSU is in the Top 25 for the first time since Sept. 17 and Sterling appears for the first time this season.
Five teams sit with a perfect record heading into Week 10 action: Sioux Falls (8-0), Carroll (9-0), Ohio Dominican (9-0), No. 7 Lindenwood (Mo.) (9-0) and No. 10 Bethel (Kan.) (7-0).
A slew of Top 25 head-to-head match-ups are scheduled this week: No. 5 St. Francis (Ind.) at No. 18 Malone (Ohio), No. 8 Northwestern (Iowa) at No. 15 Morningside (Iowa), No. 9 Virginia-Wise hosts No. 22 Cumberlands (Ky.), No. 10 Bethel (Kan.) at No. 13 Friends (Kan.) and No. 12 Jamestown (N.D.) at No. 23 Minot State (N.D.).
The poll was voted upon by a 17 member-panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and independents.
A composite football schedule listing all Top 25 games around the country can be viewed here.
The ninth regular season poll (10 overall) will be released on Monday, Nov. 5.
2007 NAIA Football Top 25 Coaches' Poll - Oct. 29 (Rating #8)
|
RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL |
1st PLACE VOTES |
2007 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
1 |
Sioux Falls (S.D.) |
17 |
8-0 |
425 |
|
2 |
2 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
|
9-0 |
400 |
|
3 |
3 |
Ohio Dominican |
|
9-0 |
395 |
|
4 |
4 |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
|
8-1 |
370 |
|
5 |
5 |
St. Francis (Ind.) |
|
7-1 |
350 |
|
6 |
6 |
Saint Xavier (Ill.) |
|
8-1 |
342 |
|
7 |
7 |
Lindenwood (Mo.) |
|
9-0 |
330 |
|
8 |
8 |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
|
7-1 |
297 |
|
9 |
9 |
Virginia-Wise |
|
8-1 |
285 |
|
10 |
10 |
Bethel (Kan.) |
|
7-0 |
276 |
|
11 |
12 |
St. Ambrose (Iowa) |
|
6-2 |
235 |
|
12 |
13 |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
|
8-1 |
226 |
|
13 |
14 |
Friends (Kan.) |
|
7-1 |
212 |
|
14 |
15 |
Missouri Valley |
|
6-2 |
203 |
|
15 |
16 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
|
7-2 |
190 |
|
16 |
18 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
|
7-2 |
164 |
|
17 |
19 |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
|
5-3 |
140 |
|
18 |
11 |
Malone (Ohio) |
|
7-2 |
137 |
|
19 |
20 |
Graceland (Iowa) |
|
6-2 |
112 |
|
20 |
23 |
Northwestern Oklahoma |
|
6-3 |
85 |
|
21 |
24 |
Montana Tech |
|
6-3 |
76 |
|
22 |
17 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
|
6-2 |
70 |
|
23 |
25 |
Minot State (N.D.) |
|
6-3 |
66 |
|
24 |
NR |
Black Hills State (S.D.) |
|
6-3 |
33 |
|
25 |
NR |
Sterling (Kan.) |
|
6-2 |
31 |
Others receiving votes:
Southern Nazarene (Okla.) 24; McKendree (Ill.) 19; Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 13; Montana State-Northern 11; Nebraska Wesleyan 7; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 1
