The Victory Sports Network has released their eighth regular season NAIA Football rating of the 2024 season. Carroll College’s win over College of Idaho has moved the Saints into the No. 19 spot in the Top 25 ranking while COI falls to No. 21. Morningside’s defeat of previous No. 4 Dordt University moves the Mustangs up to No. 5 and drops the Defenders to No. 10.
In the Mid South Conference, the Georgetown Tigers have taken sole control of the conference’s top spot with a win over Bethel University putting the Tigers at No. 13 and dropping the Wildcats from the ranking. Campbellsville reenters the ranking at No. 24.
In the KCAC, Evangel’s win over Friends moves the Valor up to No. 17 while the Falcons drop to No. 25.
| Rank | INSTITUTION | Record |
| 1 | Keiser (Fla.) | 6-0 |
| 2 | Grand View (Iowa) | 7-0 |
| 3 | Indiana Wesleyan | 7-1 |
| 4 | Montana Western | 6-1 |
| 5 | Morningside (Iowa) | 7-1 |
| 6 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 6-1 |
| 7 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 7-1 |
| 8 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 6-1 |
| 9 | Southern Oregon | 7-1 |
| 10 | Dordt (Iowa) | 6-1 |
| 11 | Montana Tech | 6-2 |
| 12 | Texas Wesleyan | 7-0 |
| 13 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 5-2 |
| 14 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 7-0 |
| 15 | Baker (Kan.) | 6-1 |
| 16 | Evangel (Mo.) | 7-0 |
| 17 | Dickinson State (N.D.) | 6-1 |
| 18 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 5-1 |
| 19 | Carroll College | 6-1 |
| 20 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 6-1 |
| 21 | College of Idaho | 6-3 |
| 22 | OUAZ | 6-1 |
| 23 | Cumberland (Tenn.) | 6-2 |
| 24 | Campbellsville | 7-1 |
| 25 | Friends (Kan.) | 7-1 |
Why is College of Idaho still in the top 25 with 3 losses?
Because they’re still one of the best teams in the NAIA. It’ll sort out in the coming weeks.
In the end all things will esp with Southern Oregon as the last game of the season for the Yotes. It’s just interesting to me, comparatively, that losses to a then #4 team (now #6) a #20 team (now #10) and unranked team (now #19 VSN, NAIA TBD) with a quality win in OT over then #10 (now #15). Yet, somehow, a 6-2 Concordia with losses to #10 (now #5 VSN, NAIA TBD) #9 (now #10 VSN , NAIA TBD) and win over #2 (now #8 VSN, NAIA TBD) can’t crack the top 25.
Concordia can’t be 6-2, struggle with Mount Marty and expect the raters to put them in the Top 25. That’s the unfortunate part about not having year over year success. They have a quality team but I think by the end of the year the win over NW will look less impressive as I think the Red Raiders will have at least one if not two more losses.
The same Mount Marty that was ahead of Dordt until midway through the 4th quarter??? maybe you can update the title for the 2024 season rankings to the 2021-2024 rankings to be more accurate as you clearly stated it’s not based on just the current year
Brotha, you gotta look at a box score before you make claims like that. Dordt trailed 7-0, Tied it 7-7, was up 14-10 in the 3rd and won 35-17. They did not trail until midway through the 4th quarter.
https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/fball/2024-25/boxscores/20241011_eair.xml
And if you think the coaches at any level DI-NAIA are only basing their ratings off of the current year’s results then you live in LaLa Land. Coaches (and myself) will give the benefit of the doubt to the team who has sustained success vs a team who turned it around quickly. Look at Taylor, Campbellsville, Cumberland, Graceland, and McPherson. Could they all be rated? Maybe. But what undefeated team or 1 loss team should you bump who started in the ratings this year based on their success from last year? As a fan of 1 team it’s easy to say your better than Team A, B and C.
PS – Nice to have you back man.
Maybe it was the 3rd that I checked Dordt/Mt.Marty score… IDK, Dordt was down at that point to my surprise. To the point, it’s just hard to believe that a 6-2 team in the GPAC, who’s resume (IMO) is better in key W/L, has the nations leading rusher in yardage, is not considered to be ranked higher than a 6-3 team at this point of the season.
Unfortunately that’s the difference between starting the season at No. 4 vs unranked. But within the next two weeks that’s going to shake out. EOU won’t be a walk in the park for COI and SOU will be a battle. CUNE needs to win out. They’re in the ARC rating so they have a shot at an at large postseason bid.
What about Taylor University in Indiana?