Oct. 20, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Six of the Top 10 teams moved up one spot and Carroll (Mont.) holds at No. 1 for the ninth straight time in the sixth regular season NAIA Football Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, announced today (Oct. 20). The Fighting Saints of Carroll notched all 18 of the possible first-place votes for the eighth consecutive time and stand with a perfect 8-0 record this year. Holding a 23-game winning streak, the longest active stretch in the NAIA, Carroll faces No. 19 Montana State-Northern on Saturday (Oct. 25). The Lights of MSU-Northern were the last conference team to defeat Carroll back on Oct. 28, 2006 -- a streak of 18 regular-season games.

No. 2 Sioux Falls, who earned 402 total points, had a bye over the weekend. The Cougars face an upcoming challenge with a road trip at Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), who is receiving votes this week. During its 6-0 start, Sioux Falls boasts a +40 scoring margin average and leads the country in scoring defense (4.0 ppg).

The next six teams in the poll all moved up one spot after Missouri Valley fell 43-25 at MidAmerica Nazarene on Saturday. Running back Pat Ealy rushed for 111 yards and caught a touchdown for 80 yards to power MidAmerica past the Pioneers, a defense that entered the game No. 2 against the run. Missouri Valley fell to No. 9 while MidAmerica hopped up one spot to No. 5. St. Francis (Ind.) and Morningside both slid up one slot to No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.  

No. 25 Shorter (Ga.) is the only program to reach the poll after sitting out last week. The Hawks handed North Greenville College, a NCAA Division II school, a 37-21 defeat on Saturday. Shorter was up to No. 20 just two weeks ago.

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and independents. The seventh regular season Top 25 poll will be announced on Oct. 27.

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NOTES: St. Francis (Ill.) was the lone team to drop out of the poll – at No. 20 last week, USF lost a 33-27 decision at unranked William Penn (Iowa)… With its current 23-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)… After an 0-2 start and dropping from the national rankings, St. Xavier (Ill.) is back on the map winning its last five straight … Since 2004 when Ohio Dominican started varsity football, the Panthers have been ranked in 30 of a possible 59 polls – those 30 polls happen to be the last 30 straight weeks… Since 2000, Carroll has been No. 1 a total of 49 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 46 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 112 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 99 straight Top 25 rankings while Sioux Falls (S.D.) stands at 98 straight mentions.

2008 NAIA Football Top 25 Coaches’ Poll – (Oct. 20)

Others receiving votes:

Baker University (Kan.) 31; Dickinson State University (N.D.) 22; Dakota Wesleyan University (S.D.) 17; University of St. Francis (Ill.) 13; Quincy University (Ill.) 5; Midland Lutheran College (Neb.) 3; Cumberland University (Tenn.) 1; William Penn University (Iowa) 1

* Records as submitted by schools and raters