Football | 08/21/23 | 3:28 PM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has announced the results of the preseason NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 Poll presented by FirstDown PlayBook. Carroll College checks in at No. 15 on the season's initial poll.
The Fighting Saints will enter the 2023 season ranked No. 15 in the nation, as voted on by a panel of coaches, one spot better than their position of the 2022 NAIA Football Coaches' Final Top 25 Poll.
This is the highest ranking for the Saints since the 2015 season (October 12, 2015 - No. 11).
It is the first time since 2016 that Carroll has appeared in the Top 25 of the Preseason Poll (2016 Preseason - No. 22).
Two other Frontier Conference opponents appear within the Top 25 (College of Idaho - No. 12, Montana Tech - No. 16), with two additional Frontier schools appearing in the receiving votes category (Arizona Christian - 30 votes, Montana Western 6 votes).
Carroll's opponent for their home opener on September 9, St. Thomas University (Fla.) appears at No. 14.
The Saints will play back-to-back games against teams ranked in the Top 20 to begin their season, a road contest at No. 16 Montana Tech on August 31, followed by the home opener on September 9 against No. 14 St. Thomas.
Ranking Methodology
- The ranker 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 or division.
- 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.
| RANK |
LAST |
SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] |
RECORD |
POINTS |
| 1 |
3 |
Northwestern (Iowa) [17] |
13-1 |
418 |
| 2 |
12 |
Keiser (Fla.) [1] |
10-4 |
383 |
| 3 |
2 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
13-1 |
379 |
| 4 |
1 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
11-1 |
375 |
| 5 |
5 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
11-2 |
340 |
| 6 |
7 |
Marian (Ind.) |
9-2 |
335 |
| 7 |
6 |
Benedictine (Kan.) |
11-2 |
317 |
| 8 |
4 |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
13-1 |
311 |
| 9 |
8 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
10-2 |
294 |
| 10 |
9 |
Reinhardt (Ga.) |
8-2 |
286 |
| 11 |
10 |
Southwestern (Kan.) |
9-2 |
238 |
| 12 |
18 |
College of Idaho |
8-2 |
237 |
| 13 |
11 |
Saint Xavier (Ill.) |
9-3 |
231 |
| 14 |
15 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
9-2 |
209 |
| 15 |
16 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
8-3 |
144 |
| 16 |
24 |
Montana Tech |
7-3 |
130 |
| 17 |
19 |
OUAZ (Ariz.) |
7-2 |
125 |
| 18 |
13 |
Avila (Mo.) |
10-2 |
122 |
| 19 |
17 |
Dickinson State (N.D.) |
8-3 |
118 |
| 20 |
NR |
Kansas Wesleyan |
8-3 |
115 |
| 21 |
22 |
Texas Wesleyan |
9-2 |
113 |
| 21 |
21 |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
7-3 |
113 |
| 23 |
14 |
Bethel (Kan.) |
9-1 |
75 |
| 24 |
23 |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
7-3 |
70 |
| 25 |
25 |
Dordt (Iowa) |
7-3 |
33 |
Receiving Votes: Arizona Christian 30; Evangel (Mo.) 23; Concordia (Mich.) 20; Bluefield (Va.) 13; MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 10; Montana Western 6; Southeastern (Fla.) 4; Louisiana Christian 3
Visit www.carrollathletics.com to continue to stay up to date on everything going on in Carroll Athletics.
