After an overtime comeback win on the road at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I FCS Drake on Saturday, the Northwestern College football team (2-0, 1-0 GPAC) holds onto the No. 1 ranking in the first poll of the 2023 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Coaches’ Poll. The league office released the poll Monday. The Red Raiders picked up all 18 first-place votes.
The Red Raiders have picked up right where they left off in 2022, picking up wins in the first two games and extending their win-streak to 15-straight games. Both wins this season have come against schools with the nickname Bulldogs in Concordia (Neb.) (48-35) and Drake (27-24 (OT)). Northwestern has now been ranked inside the top-5 for the 26th-straight poll.
The NAIA top-5 sees the same five as the preseason poll, just with a slightly different arrangement. Previously No. 2-ranked Keiser (Fla.) (1-1) dropped to No. 4 after falling to an NCAA Division II foe. Grand View slid up to No. 2, followed by Morningside at No. 3. Indiana Wesleyan remains at No. 5, despite also picking up a win over an NCAA FCS team in Valparaiso (Ind.) on Saturday.
GPAC IN THE TOP-25
No. 1 NORTHWESTERN RED RAIDERS (2-0, 1-0 GPAC)
No. 3 Morningside Mustangs (2-0, 1-0 GPAC)
No. 19 Dordt Defenders (2-0, 2-0 GPAC)
RV(10) Midland Warriors (3-0, 2-0 GPAC)
Northwestern will play in front of the home crowd for the first time this season on Saturday when they play host to the Doane Tigers (0-3, 0-2 GPAC) at De Valois Stadium.
NAIA Top 25
1 1 Northwestern (Iowa) [18] 2-0 418
2 3 Grand View (Iowa) 2-0 395
3 4 Morningside (Iowa) 2-0 381
4 2 Keiser (Fla.) 1-1 357
5 5 Indiana Wesleyan 2-0 356
6 6 Marian (Ind.) 2-0 340
7 8 Bethel (Tenn.) 2-0 326
8 12 College of Idaho 3-0 303
9 11 Southwestern (Kan.) 3-0 296
10 15 Carroll (Mont.) 2-0 274
11 9 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 1-1 239
12 21 Georgetown (Ky.) 2-0 228
13 21 Texas Wesleyan 2-0 195
14 10 Reinhardt (Ga.) 1-1 191
15 13 Saint Xavier (Ill.) 1-1 182
16 16 Montana Tech 1-1 159
17 24 St. Francis (Ill.) 2-0 144
18 NR Graceland (Iowa) 3-0 104
19 25 Dordt (Iowa) 2-0 100
20 7 Benedictine (Kan.) 1-2 88
21 RV Concordia (Mich.) 2-0 86
22 17 OUAZ (Ariz.) 1-1 68
23 14 St. Thomas (Fla.) 1-2 65
24 19 Dickinson State (N.D.) 2-1 63
25 NR Evangel (Mo.) 3-0 54
Dropped From Top 25: Avila (Mo.); Bethel (Kan.); Kansas Wesleyan
