KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Montana Tech's football team ascended to No. 4 in the first-ever STADIONIC NAIA Football National Selection Committee Poll, the NAIA office announced Tuesday afternoon.
New to the NAIA this year, the weekly coaches' top 25 poll was replaced with the National Selection Committee's rankings at the two-thirds mark in the season. The NAIA had previously relied on the coaches' top 25 to determine its rankings while only publicly revealing the NSC's Area Ratings Committee rankings at points late in the regular season.
Beginning in 2026-27, the NAIA will replace its coaches' polls with NSC rankings across all sports as their seasons approach postseason competition. The committee ranks the top 15 teams in the association.
The first football ARC ratings were also announced Tuesday, and Montana Tech checked in second in the West Region. The Orediggers also earned high rankings in the latest Football Performance Index, where they were fifth, and Massey Ratings, where they were fourth. The FPI and Massey indexes are primary criteria in the NAIA's postseason selection process.
Montana Tech, with its 7-1 record, checked in behind the only two unbeatens left in NAIA football — No. 1 St. Thomas (Fla.) and No. 2 The College of Idaho — and third-ranked Benedictine in the top 15. No. 12 Carroll also represented the Frontier Conference in the ballot.
The Orediggers, which bested Mayville State 34-20 on the road on Saturday, currently sit tied atop the Frontier Conference East Division standings with Rocky Mountain at 3-0 in league play. The Battlin' Bears will visit Alumni Coliseum this Saturday at 1 p.m. with first place in the division on the line.
STADIONIC/NAIA Football National Selection Committee Poll (Oct. 27)
| RANK |
INSTITUTION |
RECORD |
| 1 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
8-0 |
| 2 |
College of Idaho |
7-0 |
| 3 |
Benedictine (Kan.) |
8-1 |
| 4 |
Montana Tech |
7-1 |
| 5 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
7-1 |
| 6 |
Marian (Ind.) |
7-1 |
| 7 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
7-1 |
| 8 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
7-1 |
| 9 |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
5-2 |
| 10 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
6-1 |
| 11 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
6-2 |
| 12 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
6-1 |
| 13 |
Dordt (Iowa) |
6-2 |
| 14 |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
7-2 |
| 15 |
Louisiana Christian |
8-1 |
Visit Montana Tech athletics' home online, GoDiggers.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news and coverage of the Orediggers. Give Montana Tech athletics a like on Facebook, and follow the Orediggers on X and Instagram at @DiggerAthletics.
###
