KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Montana Tech is ranked fifth in the preseason edition of the 2026 Netting Professionals NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll, which was released Monday.
The Orediggers, the preseason favorite in the Frontier Conference East division, are one spot behind College of Idaho, the Frontier Conference West division preseason favorite. C of I and Tech follow No. 1 Grand View (Iowa), No. 2 Keiser (Fla.) and No. 3 Benedictine (Kan.) in the rankings. Grand View, the two-time reigning national champion, received all 13 first-place votes.
Joining Tech and C of I from the Frontier in the top 25 are Carroll College at No. 11, Montana Western at No. 18 and Dakota State (S.D.) at No. 25. Dickinson State (N.D.) received votes but failed to crack the top 25.
Montana Tech is coming off a historic season in which it went 12-1 and reached the quarterfinal round of the NAIA playoffs. The Diggers lost to College of Idaho in the quarters. The Yotes then lost to Keiser in the semifinal round.
The 2026 NAIA football season starts this week. Tech hosts Ottawa (Ariz.) at 6 p.m. Thursday, while C of I plays at Eastern Oregon on Saturday.
The rest of the Week 1 schedule for Frontier Conference teams is below.
Thursday, Aug. 27
MSU-Northern at No. 11 Carroll, 6 p.m.
Rocky Mountain vs. Mary (N.D.), 6:30 p.m. at Glendive
Dickinson State at Midland (Neb.), 5 p.m.
Valley City State at Southwest Minnesota State, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 29
Mayville State (N.D.) at Briar Cliff (Iowa), 5 p.m.
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) at Dakota State, 6 p.m.
Southern Oregon at Simpson (Calif.), 8 p.m.
