Top 25 - No. 3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The top-eight teams went unchanged in the third regular-season edition of the NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25, the national office announced Monday. Top-ranked Saint Xavier (Ill.) cruised to a 49-14 win over Trinity International (Ill.) on Sept. 24 and remained a unanimous No. 1 for the third-straight week. The Cougars earned 340 points.

The rest of the top five stood still after each dominated their most recent opponents. Second-ranked Saint Francis (Ind.) collected 327 points, followed by No. 3 Marian (Ind.) with 313 points, No. 4 Carroll (Mont.) with 294 points and No. 5 William Penn (Iowa) with 286 points. Saint Xavier, Saint Francis and Carroll have been ranked in the top five in every poll this season.

Doane (Neb.) made the biggest jump within the Top 25, moving from No. 21 to No. 17 after a 27-3 win over Nebraska Wesleyan on Sept. 24. Cumberlands (Ky.) experienced the biggest drop of any team after a 35-28 loss to Bethel (Tenn.) and fell out of the poll after being ranked 15th last week. Rocky Mountain (Mont.), ranked 17th last week, and Shorter (Ga.), No. 18 last week, were also knocked from the rankings.

Montana State-Northern returned to the Top 25 after a week absence, checking in at No. 22. No. 23 Valley City State (N.D.), No. 24 Menlo (Calif.) and No. 25 Evangel (Mo.) are all making their first appearances in the poll this season after being mentioned among the "others receiving votes" a week ago.

The Heart of America Athletic Conference and the Great Plains Athletic Conference each garnered four ranked teams to lead all conferences once again.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and Independents.

Notes: (All information dates back to 1999) Saint Xavier (Ill.), the top-ranked team for the third-straight week, moved into a tie with Saint Francis (Ind.) and Azusa Pacific (Calif.) for most appearances at No. 1 with three ... The Cougars rank behind only Carroll (Mont.) (56), Sioux Falls (S.D.) (55), Georgetown (Ky.) (23) and Northwestern Oklahoma State (11) for the most No. 1 rankings ... Carroll extended its streak of consecutive top-five appearances with 82 ... Saint Francis leads the NAIA with 146-straight mentions in the Top 25 ... Shorter (Ga.) and Rocky Mountain (Mont.) were both ranked in the previous two polls before dropping out this week ... Valley City State (N.D.) is ranked for the first time since Sept. 22, 2008 ... Evangel (Mo.) is ranked for the first time since Sept. 24, 2007.

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)	2011 RECORD	TOTAL POINTS
1	1	Saint Xavier (Ill.) (15)	4-0	340
2	2	Saint Francis (Ind.)	3-0	327
3	3	Marian (Ind.)	5-0	313
4	4	Carroll (Mont.)	3-1	294
5	5	William Penn (Iowa)	5-0	286
6	6	Missouri Valley	4-0	274
7	7	Georgetown (Ky.)	3-0	268
8	8	MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)	2-1	243
9	9	Eastern Oregon	4-0	235
10	11	Morningside (Iowa)	3-1	223
11	12	Southern Nazarene (Okla.)	4-0	214
12	13	Benedictine (Kan.)	4-0	200
13	14	Azusa Pacific (Calif.)	3-1	187
14	9	Midland (Neb.)	3-1	155
15	16	Bethany (Kan.)	4-0	143
16	19	St. Francis (Ill.)	3-1	137
17	21	Doane (Neb.)	4-0	130
18	20	Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)	3-0	103
19	24	Campbellsville (Ky.)	3-1	95
20	25	St. Ambrose (Iowa)	2-1	76
21	23	Ottawa (Kan.)	2-2	52
22	NR	Montana State-Northern	3-1	50
23	NR	Valley City State (N.D.)	2-1	40
24	NR	Menlo (Calif.)	4-0	37
25	NR	Evangel (Mo.)	2-1	35

Others receiving votes: Bethel (Tenn.) 32; Shorter (Ga.) 31; Cumberland (Tenn.) 20; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 15; Cumberlands (Ky.) 10; Grand View (Iowa) 6; UVa-Wise 3; McPherson (Kan.) 1; SAGU (Texas) 1.