KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For the first time since 2016, the Carroll College football team is ranked in the NAIA top 25 poll.
The Fighting Saints have defeated three ranked teams this season -- the latest a 30-19 win over then-No. 17 Montana Tech -- to debut at No. 22 in this week's rankings, which were released Monday. Frontier Conference teams College of Idaho (sixth) and Montana Tech (23rd) were also ranked this week, while Montana Western fell from the top 25 into the "receiving votes" category.
Carroll was last ranked in September of 2016 when it was No. 21 in the poll, according to the Saints' sports information department. They're 6-3 this season, tied with Tech and Western for second in the Frontier Conference standings.
College of Idaho is still unbeaten at 9-0 and is the highest-ranked Frontier team in the poll, holding steady at No. 6 this week after rallying for a come-from-behind win against Montana Western. Tech, which is 6-3, slipped from 17th to 23rd this week.
The regular season concludes this weekend, with College of Idaho (9-0 overall, 9-0 conference) hosting Montana State-Northern (1-9, 0-9). Carroll (6-3, 6-3) traveling to Eastern Oregon (3-7, 3-6), Tech (6-3, 6-3) hosting Rocky Mountain College (3-7, 2-7) and Western (6-3, 6-3) hosting Southern Oregon (4-6, 4-5). College of Idaho is guaranteed a trip to the upcoming NAIA playoffs via its conference title, while Carroll, Tech and Western are all long-shot playoff selections with three losses.
For updated Frontier Conference standings, please click here.
Only 16 teams qualify for the NAIA playoffs -- last year 11 qualified via conference or division titles, while five earned at-large bids. No team ranked higher than No. 18 in the latest NAIA coaches' poll has more than two losses this season. The top five positions in the poll remained unchanged: Morningside (Iowa) received all 17 first-place votes, with Marian (Ind.), Kansas Wesleyan, Grand View (Iowa) and Northwestern (Iowa) following.
The poll is voted on by a panel of head coaches representing the conferences, with 25 points being awarded each first-place vote, 24 for each second-place vote and so on.
The ninth edition of the 2019 NAIA football coaches' poll can be found below.
2019 NAIA Football Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Poll 9 (November 11)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [IST PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Morningside (Iowa) [17] | 9-0 | 392 |
| 2 | 2 | Marian (Ind.) | 8-0 | 369 |
| 3 | 3 | Kansas Wesleyan | 10-0 | 357 |
| 4 | 4 | Grand View (Iowa) | 10-0 | 352 |
| 5 | 5 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 9-0 | 328 |
| 6 | 6 | College of Idaho | 9-0 | 322 |
| 7 | 7 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 9-0 | 310 |
| 8 | 8 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 9-0 | 287 |
| 9 | 10 | Keiser (Fla.) | 9-0 | 269 |
| 10 | 11 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 7-2 | 258 |
| 11 | 13 | Saint Francis (Ind.) | 7-2 | 234 |
| 12 | 14 | Concordia (Mich.) | 7-2 | 224 |
| 13 | 15 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 8-2 | 201 |
| 14 | 16 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 8-1 | 193 |
| 15 | 18 | Baker (Kan.) | 8-2 | 185 |
| 16 | 19 | Ottawa (Ariz.) (AZ) | 8-1 | 165 |
| 17 | 9 | Evangel (Mo.) | 8-2 | 148 |
| 18 | 20 | Dickinson State (N.D.) | 8-2 | 131 |
| 18 | 21 | Siena Heights (Mich.) | 7-2 | 131 |
| 20 | 12 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 7-3 | 114 |
| 21 | 22 | Langston (Okla.) | 7-2 | 102 |
| 22 | NR | Carroll (Mont.) | 6-3 | 53 |
| 23 | 17 | Montana Tech | 6-3 | 47 |
| 24 | NR | Dordt (Iowa) | 7-3 | 34 |
| 25 | NR | Bethel (Kan.) | 8-2 | 32 |
Dropped Out: Sterling (Kan.), Indiana Wesleyan and Montana Western
Receiving Votes: Sterling (Kan.) 20, Indiana Wesleyan 16, Montana Western 12 and Waldorf (Iowa) 9
