Football | 09/11/23 | 2:47 PM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has released the first regular season edition of the NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 Rating presented by FirstDown PlayBook. Carroll College appears at No. 10 in the nationwide poll.
The Fighting Saints (2-0) were among one of the largest movers in the first regular season coaches' poll. Carroll moved up five spots from their No. 15 preseason rating, entering the nation's top-10.
This is the first time since 2015 that the Saints have appeared in the top-10 of the poll (2015 - October 5 - No. 4) and the highest national ranking under Head Coach Troy Purcell's tenure.
The Saints have two wins over nationally-ranked teams through their first two weeks of competition, 21-19 win over then-ranked No. 16 Montana Tech and last weekend's 26-23 win over then-ranked No. 14 St. Thomas (Fla.)
Two other Frontier Conference schools remained in the top-25; No. 8 College of Idaho (3-0) moved up four spots, while No. 16 Montana Tech (1-1) remained idle.
Three Frontier schools appear in the receiving votes category, Rocky Mountain College (26), Montana Western (10), and Arizona Christian (8).
Carroll will face (RV) Rocky Mountain College in their Frontier Conference opener this weekend in Billings.
Ranking Methodology
- The ranking 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 rater 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 TIME |
SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] |
RECORD |
POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Northwestern (Iowa) [18] |
2-0 |
418 |
| 2 |
3 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
2-0 |
395 |
| 3 |
4 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
2-0 |
381 |
| 4 |
2 |
Keiser (Fla.) |
1-1 |
357 |
| 5 |
5 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
2-0 |
356 |
| 6 |
6 |
Marian (Ind.) |
2-0 |
340 |
| 7 |
8 |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
2-0 |
326 |
| 8 |
12 |
College of Idaho |
3-0 |
303 |
| 9 |
11 |
Southwestern (Kan.) |
3-0 |
296 |
| 10 |
15 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
2-0 |
274 |
| 11 |
9 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
1-1 |
239 |
| 12 |
21 |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
2-0 |
228 |
| 13 |
21 |
Texas Wesleyan |
2-0 |
195 |
| 14 |
10 |
Reinhardt (Ga.) |
1-1 |
191 |
| 15 |
13 |
Saint Xavier (Ill.) |
1-1 |
182 |
| 16 |
16 |
Montana Tech |
1-1 |
159 |
| 17 |
24 |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
2-0 |
144 |
| 18 |
NR |
Graceland (Iowa) |
3-0 |
104 |
| 19 |
25 |
Dordt (Iowa) |
2-0 |
100 |
| 20 |
7 |
Benedictine (Kan.) |
1-2 |
88 |
| 21 |
RV |
Concordia (Mich.) |
2-0 |
86 |
| 22 |
17 |
OUAZ (Ariz.) |
1-1 |
68 |
| 23 |
14 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
1-2 |
65 |
| 24 |
19 |
Dickinson State (N.D.) |
2-1 |
63 |
| 25 |
NR |
Evangel (Mo.) |
3-0 |
54 |
Dropped From Top 25: Avila (Mo.); Bethel (Kan.); Kansas Wesleyan
Receiving Votes: Southeastern (Fla.) 48; Bluefield (Va.) 32; Friends (Kan.) 26; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 26; Montana Western 10; Midland (Neb.) 10; Arizona Christian 8; Baker (Kan.) 3; Louisiana Christian 3; Kansas Wesleyan 3
