2010 NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 Poll - Regular Season No. 4
Oct. 4, 2010
Contact: Chad Waller, NAIA Director of Sports Information & Media Services, cwaller@naia.org
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The top-13 teams held their positions and two schools earned a Top-25 ranking for the first time this year in the fourth regular season edition of the NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25, announced by the NAIA on Monday. The top-half of the teams in the Top 25 have dominated through five weeks. Nine of the top-10 teams are undefeated with No. 6 Lindenwood (Mo.) as the lone exception (top-10 loss on Sept. 25). The combined record of the top-13 is 60-4 (.938).
Two of the four newcomers are appearing for the first time this year. In the case of No. 24 Webber International (Fla.), the Warriors are ranked for the first time in school history. Webber International defeated then-No. 14 Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 13-10 on Oct. 2. No. 25 (tie) Campbellsville (Ky.) is nationally recognized for the first time since Oct. 26, 2009 (No. 24). The other two new teams this week, No. 22 Montana Tech and No. 25 (tie) Hastings (Neb.), each held a previous Top 25 mark this year.
No. 1 Sioux Falls (S.D.) continues to roll. The latest victim, Nebraska Wesleyan in the 44-0 win on Oct. 2, was the 34th straight victory for the Cougars. That streak is the longest active winning streak in any division of college football (NCAA or NAIA). Sioux Falls tallied 416 total points and 16 of a possible 18 first-place votes in the poll this week. Behind a 5-0 record, the Cougars rank in the top-20 nationally in all major defensive categories, including second in scoring defense (10.8 papg).
Carroll (Mont.) holds down the No. 2 spot for the second straight week. The Fighting Saints gathered 402 total points and one first-place nod. Recently, Carroll took a 65-13 dominating win over Montana State-Northern on Oct. 2 for its 38th straight Frontier Conference victory. In that contest, the Carroll defense held MSU-Northern to 121 yards of offense. Carroll is 5-0 on the season and will rest its' top-ranked defense (174.4 yapg) during the upcoming bye week.
With the most wins at 6-0, No. 3 St. Xavier (Ill.) recorded 388 total points and the remaining first-place vote this week. Displaying the nation's top-scoring offense, the Cougars scored a 46-21 win over Taylor (Ind.) on Oct. 2. That scoring output was the sixth-straight game of at least 45 points for a team that averages nearly 52 points this season. Next up is a Mid-States Football Association Mideast home battle with No. 14 Marian (Ind.) on Saturday.
No. 4 Morningside (Iowa), behind a 20-17 win over then-No. 17 Northwestern (Iowa) on Oct. 2, held strong this week in the poll. The Mustangs sit with 367 total points and a 5-0 overall record. Ranked in the top-five in three defensive categories, Morningside has been dominant on the defensive side allowing under 62 rushing yards per game. The Mustangs have now been ranked in the top-five in 27 of the last 29 coaches' polls dating back to 2008.
Another team that has been winning consistently is No. 5 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.). The Pioneers boasted 357 points this week in the poll. On Oct. 2, MidAmerica Nazarene defeated its third Top-25 opponent this year (Baker, Lindenwood, Benedictine. The 5-0 Pioneers knocked off then- No. 20 Benedictine (Kan.) most recently, 23-7 and have held four of five opponents under 20 points. On Saturday, MidAmerica Nazarene hosts Graceland (Iowa).
Two schools fall out of the Top 25 since last week, No. 19 Lambuth (Tenn.) and No. 24 Menlo (Calif.). Lambuth is 2-3 on the year and has lost two straight against non-NAIA competition. Menlo, who was in the Top 25 for the first time in school history last week, dropped a 20-7 decision to NCAA Division III Whitworth (Calif.) on Oct. 2.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and independents. The fifth regular season Football Coaches' Top 25 Poll will be announced on Oct. 11. For the entire schedule of the 2010 Coaches' Top 25 Poll, click here.
For more information on NAIA football, please click here.
NOTES: No. 1 Sioux Falls (S.D.) has dominated since the start of the 2008 season and when the Cougars won back-to-back national championships in 2008 and 2009 -- the last loss came in the 2007 title game on Dec. 15 against Carroll (Mont.)... Lambuth (Tenn.) fell out of the Top 25 for the first time in 25 polls - that streak was tied for the 11th longest active stretch... One week after hitting the Top 25 for the first time since 1997 (when NAIA Division I and II were combined), No. 18 South Dakota Mines moves up five positions... Overall, No. 1 Sioux Falls (S.D.) has been ranked in the top-five spots in the last 110 straight polls dating back to the 2001 season... The 20 straight No. 1 rankings for Sioux Falls are the most for any team since Carroll (Mont.) went 21 straight polls from the 2004-06 seasons... Sioux Falls was ranked No. 1 for the entire 2009 season (14 polls), which marks the first time for a team to do so since Carroll in 2005... Sioux Falls has now been ranked No. 1 a total of 49 times since the 2000 season, including 32 mentions out of 45 polls since 2007... Carroll and Sioux Falls have dominated the top of the polls with either team being ranked No. 1 since the 2006 Postseason Top 25 Poll (Jan. 18, 2007) -- Saint Francis (Ind.) was the last team outside of those two programs to earn the No. 1 spot back on Nov. 12, 2006 - a streak of 47 polls... Carroll has now been ranked in the top five in the last 70 straight polls dating back to Jan. 17, 2005 (2004 Postseason Top 25 Poll)... St. Francis boasts the longest consecutive stretch of being named in the Coaches' Top 25 Poll - 134 straight mentions - the last time St. Francis was not mentioned in the Top 25 was Oct. 19, 1999... After St. Francis, Carroll is the next team in line with 121 straight Top 25 rankings, while Sioux Falls stands at 120 straight mentions... Since 2000, Carroll has been ranked No. 1 53 times, the highest amount of any program during that time span; Sioux Falls is second with 49 mentions at No. 1 followed by Georgetown (Ky.) with 14, Northwestern Oklahoma State with 11 and St. Francis with three.
2010 NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 Poll - (Oct. 4)
RANK | LAST WEEK^ | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2010 RECORD* | TOTAL POINTS |
1 | 1 | University of Sioux Falls (S.D.) (16) | 5-0 | 416 |
2 | 2 | Carroll College (Mont.) (1) | 5-0 | 402 |
3 | 3 | Saint Xavier University (Ill.) (1) | 6-0 | 388 |
4 | 4 | Morningside College (Iowa) | 5-0 | 367 |
5 | 5 | MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) | 5-0 | 357 |
6 | 6 | Lindenwood University (Mo.) | 4-1 | 331 |
7 | 7 | McPherson College (Kan.) | 4-0 | 321 |
8 | 8 | Walsh University (Ohio) | 5-0 | 303 |
9 | 9 | University of Saint Francis (Ind.) | 4-0 | 294 |
10 | 10 | Dickinson State University (N.D.) | 5-0 | 277 |
11 | 11 | Missouri Valley College | 4-1 | 252 |
12 | 12 | McKendree University (Ill.) | 4-1 | 232 |
13 | 13 | Ottawa University (Kan.) | 4-1 | 227 |
14 | 15 | Marian University (Ind.) | 4-1 | 213 |
15 | 16 | William Penn University (Iowa) | 5-0 | 201 |
16 | 18 | Langston University (Okla.) | 3-1 | 179 |
17 | 22 | Kansas Wesleyan University | 4-0 | 152 |
18 | 23 | South Dakota Mines & Technology | 3-1 | 124 |
19 | 14 | Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) | 4-1 | 112 |
20 | 17 | Northwestern College (Iowa) | 3-2 | 108 |
21 | 25 | Cumberland University (Tenn.) | 4-1 | 87 |
22 | RV | Montana Tech | 4-2 | 59 |
23 | 20 | Benedictine College (Kan.) | 3-2 | 45 |
24 | RV | Webber International University (Fla.) | 3-2 | 31 |
T25 | RV | Hastings College (Neb.) | 3-2 | 25 |
T25 | 21 | Dakota Wesleyan University (S.D.) | 3-1 | 25 |
T25 | RV | Campbellsville University (Ky.) | 4-2 | 25 |
Others receiving votes:
Friends University (Kan.) 18; Black Hills State University (S.D.) 16; Southern Nazarene University (Okla.) 15; Northwestern Oklahoma State University 9; Lambuth University (Tenn.) 5; Shorter University (Ga.) 3; University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) 1; Eastern Oregon University 1; Georgetown College (Ky.) 1
^ Ranking indicated in Top 25 Poll (Sept. 27, 2010)
* Record reflects the school submission of their statistics in DakStats
