Nov. 3, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the 11^th straight time, Carroll (Mont.) is No. 1 in the eighth regular season NAIA Football Top 25 Coaches' Poll, announced today (Nov. 3). With a 10-0 record and the most wins in the country, Carroll escaped Saturday with a 10-6 win over Montana Tech. Carroll earned all 18 possible first-place votes and 418 total points. The Saints end the regular season with a home contest against Eastern Oregon (4-5) and will look to prepare for the 2008 Football Championship Series, which begins Nov. 22. The reign at No. 1 for the Saints, who have won 25 in-a-row, is the longest consecutive stretch since Sioux Falls (S.D.) had the lock on No. 1 for 14 straight polls dating from the end of the 2006 season through the 2007 final regular season poll.

The rest of the Top 6 again stay the same and remain undefeated. No. 2 Sioux Falls pitched its sixth shut-out of the year with a 19-0 win over visiting No. 8 Northwestern (Iowa). USF, who notched 401 total points in the poll, is gunning for the national record of eight shut-outs on the year. After Dordt (Iowa) this weekend, the Cougars still have a date with another Top 10 team, No. 4 Morningside (Iowa) on Nov. 15. St. Francis (Ind.) remains at No. 3 with 386 points and takes on No. 10 Malone this weekend (Nov. 8).

Morningside checks in at No. 4 with 368 points while No. 5 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) is right behind with 358 points. The Pioneers of MNU take on No. 15 Baker (Kan.) on Saturday with first place in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) on the line. Baker, who jumped nine spots, won a thrilling 26-22 contest over No. 7 Missouri Valley on Saturday.

No. 25 Minot State is the only team new to the poll this week. The Beavers have won four straight games and face No. 20 Dickinson State (N.D.) this weekend for the Dakota Athletic Conference title.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and independents. The ninth regular season Top 25 poll will be announced on Nov. 10.

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NOTES: With a 10-0 record, Carroll (Mont.) is tied with Minnesota Duluth, a NCAA Division II school, with the most wins in all of NAIA and NCAA college football...Cris Reisert of Ohio Dominican is one player on pace to break the NAIA national career passing touchdowns record - he is tied with Marc Weekly of Pacific Lutheran (Calif.) from 1990-93 with 113 touchdown throws... Jamestown (N.D.) is the only team to drop out of the poll this week - at No. 18 last week, JC lost at home to Black Hills State (S.D.)... Minot State (N.D.) is in the Top 25 for the first time since the Preseason poll (Aug. 11) when it was No. 19 (tied)... With its current 25-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)... Since 2004 when Ohio Dominican started varsity football, the Panthers have been ranked in 32 of a possible 61 polls - those 32 polls happen to be the last 32 straight weeks... Since 2000, Carroll has been No. 1 a total of 51 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 48 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 114 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 101 straight Top 25 rankings while Sioux Falls (S.D.) stands at 100 straight mentions.

2008 NAIA Football Top 25 Coaches' Poll - (Nov. 3)

Others receiving votes:

Montana State University-Northern 15; William Penn University (Iowa) 13; Black Hills State University (S.D.) 11; Jamestown College (N.D.) 6; Sterling College (Kan.) 3; Dakota Wesleyan University (S.D.) 1; Quincy University (Ill.) 1; University of St. Francis (Ill.) 1; Bacone College (Okla.) 1

* Records as submitted by schools and raters