Northwestern College continues its climb in the NAIA Football Coaches’ Top 25 poll released earlier today by the national office.
The Red Raiders moved up one spot to 13th in the Oct. 30 edition of the coaches’ poll after defeating Dordt 41-23 last weekend in Orange City. They improved to 8-1 overall, 6-1 in conference play, with one game left in the regular season. Northwestern is one of three teams from the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) to be ranked in the top 25; Morningside (4) and Doane (24). A fourth GPAC team, Concordia, received votes.
The top 10 teams all remain unchanged from last week with defending champion Saint Francis (Ind.) earning all 15 first place votes to claim the top spot for the 11th straight coaches’ poll. The Cougars are followed by Baker (Kan.), Reinhardt (Ga.), Morningside and Lindsey Wilson (Ky.).
| RANK | LAST TIME^ | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2017 RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Saint Francis (Ind.) (15) | 9-0 | 340 |
| 2 | 2 | Baker (Kan.) | 9-0 | 327 |
| 3 | 3 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 7-0 | 312 |
| 4 | 4 | Morningside (Iowa) | 9-0 | 303 |
| 5 | 5 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 8-0 | 287 |
| 6 | 6 | Grand View (Iowa) | 8-1 | 272 |
| 7 | 7 | Southern Oregon | 8-0 | 266 |
| 8 | 8 | Langston (Okla.) | 8-0 | 241 |
| 9 | 9 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 7-0 | 237 |
| 10 | 10 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 7-1 | 227 |
| 11 | 12 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 8-1 | 213 |
| 12 | 13 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 6-1 | 191 |
| 13 | 14 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 8-1 | 183 |
| 14 | 15 | Dickinson State (N.D.) | 8-1 | 169 |
| 15 | 16 | Concordia (Mich.) | 8-1 | 159 |
| 16 | 17 | SAGU (Texas) | 7-1 | 139 |
| 17 | 11 | Montana Tech | 6-2 | 132 |
| 18 | 18 | Sterling (Kan.) | 7-2 | 122 |
| 19 | 19 | Tabor (Kan.) | 6-2 | 108 |
| 20 | 21 | Marian (Ind.) | 5-3 | 84 |
| 21 | 20 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 6-1 | 73 |
| 22 | 22 | Cumberland (Tenn.) | 6-3 | 57 |
| 23 | 23 | Arizona Christian | 6-3 | 50 |
| 24 | 24 | Doane (Neb.) | 5-3 | 34 |
| 25 | RV | Evangel (Mo.) | 6-3 | 13 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Dakota State (S.D.) (No. 25)
Others Receiving Votes: Kansas Wesleyan 11; Concordia (Neb.) 8; Dakota State (S.D.) 6; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 6; Faulkner (Ala.) 5; Bluefield (Va.) 3; Peru State (Neb.) 3.
