2017 NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 Poll — No. 9
By Alan Grosbach, Associate Director of Athletic Communications and Media
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the 12th-straight edition, Saint Francis (Ind.) tops the NAIA Football Coaches Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Monday. The Cougars, who claimed all 15 first-place votes and 340 total points, have been the unanimous No. 1 team in all 10 polls this season.
The 2017 NAIA Football Championship Series (FCS) 16-team field and
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999)
• Saint Francis now owns 15 all-time No. 1 rankings, which is the fourth-most top billings since the 1999 season.
• The Cougars ended the regular-season with a 10-0 record after defeating Taylor (Ind.), 40-20, over the weekend. The victory pushes Saint Francis’ current NAIA-best winning streak to 19-straight games.
• Due to an upset loss by Baker (Kan.), Southern Oregon joins the top five at No. 5 for the first time this season. This shift ends a streak of three-straight weeks where there were no changes in the top five teams.
• No. 24 Kansas Wesleyan and No. 25 Concordia (Neb.) are the two newcomers to the Top 25. The Coyotes return to the poll following a two-week hiatus, while the Bulldogs garner recognition for the first time since the spring edition.
• Carroll (Mont.) owns the most No. 1 rankings with 58, followed by former NAIA member Sioux Falls (S.D.) (55), No. 12 Georgetown (Ky.) (25), No. 3 Morningside (Iowa) (20), Saint Francis (15) and No. 9 Saint Xavier (Ill.) (14).
• Morningside holds the longest active streak with 135-straight Top 25 mentions. Additionally, the Mustangs have been ranked within the top 10 in 84-straight polls.
Poll Methodology
• The poll 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.
• 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.
2017 NAIA Football Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 9 (November 6, 2017)
| RANK | LAST TIME^ | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2017 RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Saint Francis (Ind.) (15) | 10-0 | 340 |
| 2 | 3 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 8-0 | 325 |
| 3 | 4 | Morningside (Iowa) | 10-0 | 316 |
| 4 | 5 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 9-0 | 300 |
| 5 | 7 | Southern Oregon | 9-0 | 280 |
| 6 | 6 | Grand View (Iowa) | 9-1 | 279 |
| 7 | 2 | Baker (Kan.) | 9-1 | 256 |
| 8 | 8 | Langston (Okla.) | 9-0 | 255 |
| 9 | 10 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 8-1 | 241 |
| 10 | 12 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 7-1 | 217 |
| 11 | 13 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 8-1 | 202 |
| T12 | 14 | Dickinson State (N.D.) | 8-1 | 187 |
| T12 | 9 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 7-1 | 187 |
| 14 | 15 | Concordia (Mich.) | 8-1 | 177 |
| 15 | 11 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 8-2 | 170 |
| 16 | 18 | Sterling (Kan.) | 8-2 | 142 |
| 17 | 19 | Tabor (Kan.) | 7-2 | 125 |
| 18 | 21 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 7-1 | 103 |
| 19 | 20 | Marian (Ind.) | 6-3 | 101 |
| 20 | 16 | SAGU (Texas) | 7-2 | 99 |
| 21 | 23 | Arizona Christian | 7-3 | 73 |
| 22 | 17 | Montana Tech | 6-3 | 69 |
| 23 | 25 | Evangel (Mo.) | 7-3 | 55 |
| 24 | RV | Kansas Wesleyan | 7-3 | 30 |
| 25 | RV | Concordia (Neb.) | 6-3 | 15 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Cumberland (Tenn.) (No. 22); Doane (Neb.) (No. 24)
Others Receiving Votes: Faulkner (Ala.) 12; Dakota State (S.D.) 11; Peru State (Neb.) 10; College of Idaho 4; Cumberland (Tenn.) 3.
^ Top 25 ranking from Oct. 30,
