KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the third-straight edition, Saint Francis (Ind.) locks down the No. 1 ranking in the 2017 NAIA Football Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Monday. The Cougars swept all 15 first-place votes and earned 340 total points en route to the club’s sixth all-time top billing.
Four new teams joined the Top 25 this week – No. 16 Benedictine (Kan.), No. 19 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), No. 23 Northwestern (Iowa) and No. 24 St. Ambrose. Northwestern is making its first appearance in the poll since ranking No. 22 on Nov. 2, 2015. The three other squads were all ranked at some point during the 2016 season.
| RANK | LAST TIME^ | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2017 RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Saint Francis (Ind.) (15) | 2-0 | 340 |
| 2 | 2 | Baker (Kan.) | 3-0 | 327 |
| 3 | 3 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 2-0 | 311 |
| 4 | 4 | Morningside (Iowa) | 3-0 | 304 |
| 5 | 6 | Montana Tech | 2-0 | 288 |
| 6 | 8 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 2-0 | 275 |
| 7 | 11 | Doane (Neb.) | 2-0 | 258 |
| 8 | 5 | Marian (Ind.) | 1-1 | 228 |
| 9 | 9 | Grand View (Iowa) | 2-1 | 221 |
| 10 | 16 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 2-0 | 206 |
| 11 | 7 | Eastern Oregon | 1-1 | 201 |
| 12 | 18 | Arizona Christian | 2-0 | 188 |
| 13 | 24 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 2-0 | 181 |
| 14 | 25 | Southern Oregon | 2-0 | 164 |
| 15 | 22 | Langston (Okla.) | 2-0 | 144 |
| T16 | RV | Benedictine (Kan.) | 3-0 | 131 |
| T16 | 21 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 1-0 | 131 |
| 18 | 10 | Tabor (Kan.) | 0-1 | 98 |
| 19 | NR | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 3-0 | 91 |
| 20 | 14 | Sterling (Kan.) | 1-1 | 80 |
| 21 | 15 | Dickinson State (N.D.) | 2-1 | 79 |
| 22 | 17 | Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) | 2-1 | 60 |
| 23 | RV | St. Ambrose (Iowa) | 2-0 | 49 |
| 24 | NR | Northwestern (Iowa) | 2-0 | 40 |
| 25 | 20 | Kansas Wesleyan | 1-1 | 32 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Missouri Valley (No. 12); Robert Morris (Ill.) (No. 13); Montana Western (No. 19); William Penn (Iowa) (No. 23)
Others Receiving Votes: Cumberland (Tenn.) 23; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 21; Montana Western 20; Robert Morris (Ill.) 19; Concordia (Mich.) 12; Missouri Valley 10; Hastings (Neb.) 8; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 7.
