Nov. 16, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Carroll (Mont.) College earned the distinction as the No. 1 team in the 10^th and final regular season NAIA Football Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, announced today (Nov. 16). The top ranking marks the 13^th straight time overall for Carroll, a team that has won 26 consecutive games. The Fighting Saints look to defend their national championship and will await word from the NAIA Football Selection Committee on who they will play in the 2008 Football Championship Series (FCS) Opening Round, which is set to begin Nov. 22. The official field for the FCS, along with the pairings, will be announced by 5 p.m. CST today.

Carroll earned all 18 possible first-place votes and 418 total points. The Saints are 11-0 on the year and becomes the second team in the last two years to run through the regular season as the No. 1 – Sioux Falls (S.D.) was the top-ranked team during the 2007 regular season.

Staying at No. 2 is Sioux Falls, a position the Cougars have held throughout the entire season. The Cougars posted 400 points in the poll and moved to 10-0 on the year after a 34-31 victory over then-No. 4 Morningside (Iowa) on Saturday. USF was down 31-27 in the fourth quarter before scoring the game-winning touchdown with 10:12 remaining.

St. Francis (Ind.) is at No. 3 and recorded 388 points. The Cougars won its ninth Mid-States Football Association-Mideast title in the last 10 years getting past then-No. 18 St. Xavier (Ill.) 47-30 yesterday. MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) moved up one spot at No. 4 and finished off its undefeated regular season by defeating Culver-Stockton (Mo.) 59-22. The fifth and final undefeated team in the ranks is No. 5 Friends (Kan.), who got past St. Mary (Kan.) 57-22.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and independents. The official field for the 2008 Football Championship Series, along with the pairings, will be announced by 5 p.m. CST today.

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NOTES: There are five teams to finish the regular season with an undefeated record – that is the highest amount of NAIA schools since 1995 when six programs had a perfect regular season mark… Already with three national career records set this season, Cris Reisert of Ohio Dominican came up 111 yards shy for the NAIA national career total offense record of 13,979 – he totaled 215 yards of offense in the win over then-No. 13 Malone (Ohio) yesterday… With its current 26-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 34 of a possible 63 polls – those 34 polls happen to be the last 34 straight weeks… Since 2000, Carroll has been No. 1 a total of 53 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 50 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 116 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 103 straight Top 25 rankings while Sioux Falls (S.D.) stands at 102 straight mentions.

2008 NAIA Football Top 25 Coaches’ Poll – (Nov. 16: Final Regular Season)

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL (1st PLACE VOTES)	2008 RECORD*	TOTAL POINTS
1	1	Carroll College (Mont.)	11-0	418
2	2	University of Sioux Falls (S.D.)	10-0	400
3	3	University of Saint Francis (Ind.)	10-0	388
4	5	MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.)	10-0	369
5	6	Friends University (Kan.)	10-0	349
6	4	Morningside College (Iowa)	9-1	334
7	7	Lindenwood University (Mo.)	9-1	324
8	8	University of the Cumberlands (Ky.)	9-1	308
9	9	Langston University (Okla.)	9-2	293
10	10	Northwestern Oklahoma State University	8-2	271
11	15	Union College (Ky.)	9-2	241
12	19	Shorter College (Ga.)	9-2	232
13	16	Baker University (Kan.)	8-3	231
14	17	Dickinson State University (N.D.)	7-3	206
15	20	Saint Ambrose University (Iowa)	8-3	175
T16	11	Lambuth University (Tenn.)	8-3	155
T16	23	Ohio Dominican University	7-3	155
18	12	Missouri Valley College	7-3	136
19	21	Northwestern College (Iowa)	7-3	126
20	14	Ottawa University (Kan.)	8-2	112
21	22	University of Virginia's College at Wise	8-3	101
22	13	Malone University (Ohio)	6-3	91
23	24	Montana State University-Northern	7-3	71
24	18	Saint Xavier University (Ill.)	7-4	63
25	25	Dakota Wesleyan University (S.D.)	7-3	53

Others receiving votes:

Jamestown College (N.D.) 23; Sterling College (Kan.) 6; Cumberland University (Tenn.) 5; William Penn University (Iowa) 4; Benedictine College (Kan.) 1

* Records as submitted by schools and raters