I don’t have much to say by way of preamble regarding the NAIA, so let’s just get on down to it. The same method which I used for Division I FCS actually does work well for the NAIA despite a low voter total.
My calculated conference rankings:
- Mid-States (.252)
- Heart of America (.188)
- Great Plains (.164)
- Kansas (.146)
- Dakota (.089)
- Frontier (.088)
- Mid-South (.031)
- independents (.025)
- Central States (.017)
There’s really nothing surprising at all about this list. If we divided the point totals by number of teams in each conference, the tiers would still be set, but the Mid-States and Great Plains would pull down a little closer to the HoA and Kansas leagues, respectively, and the Frontier would climb up to join them all.
The upper tier, 1-4, is responsible for 8 of the top 10 teams, and they’re also deeper than the lower tiers. The middle tier (5-6) consists of the Dakota AC, which has has always been in the middle of the pack, and the Frontier Conference, which suffers from only having six teams. On a per-team basis, the Frontier would be a top-tier league. At 7 and 9, the Mid-South and Central States conferences are very weak, even on a points-per-team basis, and the same applies to the independents. The Mid-South was, once upon a time, a much stronger league. They’ve expanded (adding poor teams), and they’ve lost one of their best teams (Lambuth, who is currently independent while moving toward Division II).
Here’s the NAIA Football Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, and on to the conference recaps:
Mid-States: The conference that just keeps rolling. A whole slew of former members of this conference are now in Division II, but that hasn’t held the conference back any. In the Mideast, #3 St. Xavier (7-0, 4-0) visits Malone (1-4). They have a half-game lead over #8 St. Francis (IN) (5-0, 3-0), who visits Trinity International. #13 Walsh (5-1, 1-1) hosts Taylor in a battle for control of third place, and winless (amazingly, as they’re a former power) Olivet Nazarene visits Marian. In the Midwest, #12 William Penn (6-0, 3-0) hosts St. Ambrose, #19 McKendree (4-2, 2-1) visits Waldorf, and Iowa Wesleyan travels to winless Quincy. St. Francis (IL) (3-3, 3-1) hosts Haskell in non-conference action, and Grand View is idle.
Things to Know: Quincy, who has always remained a Division II basketball school, will head back to Division II football in the next year or two when the Great Lakes Valley Conference begins sponsoring football.
Heart of America: #5 MidAmerica Nazarene (6-0, 6-0) holds a one-game lead over #6 Lindenwood and #10 Missouri Valley (5-1, 5-1). MANU has already beaten Lindenwood, but won’t play MVC until November 6. This week, MANU visits William Jewell, Lindenwood hosts winless Culver-Stockton, and MVC travels to Evangel. #20 Benedictine (KS) (4-2, 4-2) entertains Baker and Avila visits Graceland, while Central Methodist takes the week off.
Things to Know: William Jewell is moving to Division II, joining the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Great Plains: #4 Morningside pays a visit to #1 Sioux Falls Saturday, and this is without even the shadow of a doubt the NAIA game of the week as the teams are tied at 6-0/6-0. The winner effectively takes a two-game lead over the loser with three conference games remaining, and the rest of the conference is all but eliminated. #17 Northwestern (IA) (3-2, 3-2) invades winless Dordt, Hastings travels to Dakota Wesleyan, Doane visits Midland Lutheran, and Briar Cliff is at Concordia (NE). Nebraska Wesleyan is idle.
Things to Know: Sioux Falls has been running roughshod over the NAIA for years; next year, they’ll be in Division II. No conference affiliation yet, but they’re trying to join the Northern Sun. Nebraska Wesleyan has, for years, maintained a dual membership between the NAIA and Division III, and as such have been ineligible for NAIA post-season play.
Kansas: The runner-up for NAIA Game of the Week features #14 Kansas Wesleyan traveling to #7 McPherson. Both teams are 5-0/4-0. #25 Friends (5-1, 4-1) hosts Peru State in a non-conference match, while #11 Ottawa (5-1, 4-1) is idle. Southwestern (KS) travels to Bethany, Sterling visits Tabor, and St. Mary’s hosts Bethel in a meeting of winless teams.
Things to Know: Nothing special. Historically, the KCAC has been a very stable conference.
Dakota: The top half of the conference has already played the bottom half; the top four teams are 4-0, and the bottom four are 0-4. As you can imagine, the last three games of the DAC season will be interesting. Well, half of them, anyway. #9 Dickinson State (6-0) hosts Black Hills State (5-1), while #15 South Dakota Mines (5-1) visits Minot State (4-2). When the winners of these two games meet, it will be for the conference title. Down in the cellar, winless Dakota State visits Valley City State, and winless Mayville State visits Jamestown.
Things to Know: Minot State is currently in the process of moving to Division II.
Frontier: The Frontier plays a double round-robin, the first half of which is already complete. #2 Carroll (5-0, 5-0) visits Rocky Mountain, #21 Montana Tech (4-2, 4-1) heads off to Eastern Oregon, and winless Montana Western travels to Montana State-Northern.
Things to Know: Nothing, other than to note that Carroll is just as hazardous to NAIA playoff hopefuls as Sioux Falls has been, and will take over the role of big bully once the Cougars leave after this season.
Mid-South: It’s ugly. In the East, especially so; even perennial power Georgetown (KY) is on the skids (3-2, 2-0). They’ll host winless Pikeville, which will help. They’re tied with Virginia-Wise (2-5, 2-0) atop the division; UVW is idle. Winless Kentucky Christian travels to West Virginia Tech, and in cross-division play Campbellsville travels to West Division leaders Cumberlands (KY) (3-2, 2-0) and Lindsey Wilson hosts Union (KY). Out West, #16 Cumberland (TN) (5-1, 1-0) trails by a half game; they’ll visit Faulkner while Shorter travels to Belhaven. Bethel (TN) is idle.
Things to Know: Mentioned above prior to the recaps.
Independents: #21 Webber International (4-2) visits Edward Waters, #24 Azusa Pacific (4-2) is idle. The remaining games are against teams in conferences; Haskell is at St. Francis (IL), Menlo hosts D-III Pacific Lutheran, Peru State visits #25 Friends, Southern Virginia travels to D-III #3 Wesley, Southern Oregon hosts D-III #4 Mary Hardin-Baylor, and Lambuth hosts D-III Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Notre Dame (OH) is idle.
Central States: Northwestern Oklahoma State (3-2, 2-0) is technically in the lead; they’ll host Bacone. #23 Langston (3-2, 1-0) is half a game back, and they’ll entertain Southwestern Assemblies of God. Winless Texas College travels to Panhandle State in the remaining game, while Southern Nazarene stands idle.
And that’ll do it for this week’s heads-up. I may come up with something interesting to write about between now and Saturday (especially with some Thursday games on tap), and on Saturday I’ll drop some notes in the event anything interesting happens, as well as updates on the big games of the weekend.