Frontier Conference football teams took a week off from league play this past weekend, but there was still plenty of movement in the NAIA Coaches Poll.
Carroll College remained No. 3 in this week’s poll, released Monday afternoon, but Eastern Oregon took a huge drop. The Mountaineers have lost their last two games and fell all the way to No. 23 this week. EOU was ranked No. 17 last week, and was No. 9 before its home loss to Rocky Mountain College two weeks ago. The Battlin’ Bears were idle this week, but they moved up two spots in the most recent poll. RMC moved from No. 23 to No. 21.
After falling out of the Top 25, idle MSU-Northern didn’t receive any votes in this week’s poll, the second straight week that has happened to the Lights.
There was no change in the top four slots in the poll, with Saint Xavier of Illinois still holding strong at No. 1. Marian of Indiana is No. 2, followed by Carroll and Missouri Valley. Georgetown of Kentucky moved up to No. 5 this week.
While the Frontier had its bye week, three teams were still in action. Carroll trounced Dickinson State 35-6 in Dickinson, N.D. last Saturday, while EOU suffered a 46-34 loss at the hands of rival Southern Oregon in Ashland, Ore. UM-Western moved up this week and lost 42-9 to future Big Sky Conference member the University of North Dakota.
The league will begin its second half of the season this Saturday. After taking a couple of days off, Northern went back to work in preparation for its third straight road game. The Lights travel to Western this Saturday. Carroll hosts RMC in a huge Frontier showdown and EOU hosts Montana Tech. The Lights will finally make their long-awaited return home on Oct. 22 when they host Montana Tech.
NAIA Football Poll
The Associated Press
Rec. Pts Pvs
1. Saint Xavier (Ill.) (15) 6-0 340 1
2. Marian (Ind.) 7-0 325 2
3. Carroll (Mont.) 5-1 309 3
4. Missouri Valley 5-0 300 5
5. Georgetown (Ky.) 5-0 293 6
6. Saint Francis (Ind.) 4-1 279 7
7. MidAmerica Naz. (Kan.) 4-1 263 8
8. Morningside (Iowa) 4-1 242 9
9. Benedictine (Kan.) 6-0 228 11
10. Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 5-1 220 12
11. William Penn (Iowa) 6-1 218 4
12. St. Francis (Ill.) 5-1 204 15
13. Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 5-0 170 16
14. St. Ambrose (Iowa) 4-1 159 18
15. Southern Naz. (Okla.) 5-1 153 10
16. Ottawa (Kan.) 4-2 127 19
17. Bethel (Tenn.) 5-1 126 21
18. Valley City State (N.D.) 5-1 114 20
19. Doane (Neb.) 5-1 94 13
20. Cumberland (Tenn.) 4-1 93 25
21. Rocky Mountain) 4-2 88 23
22. Bethany (Kan.) 5-1 75 14
23. Eastern Oregon 4-2 40 17
23. NWOklahoma State 3-3 40 NR
25. Menlo (Calif.) 5-1 35 NR
Others receiving votes: Northwestern (Iowa) 30; Langston (Okla.) 19; Shorter (Ga.) 9; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 4; Southern Oregon 1.
