KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Montana Tech's football team remained at No. 5 in the STADIONIC NAIA Football National Selection Committee poll, the NAIA office announced Tuesday afternoon.
Montana Tech sports a 9-1 record after Saturday's 59-16 drubbing of Dickinson State. The Orediggers won the Frontier Conference East Division's automatic qualifier to the NAIA Football Championship Series with the victory.
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.
While Montana Tech held serve, there was a shakeup at the top of this week's top 15. The College of Idaho took over the top spot in the rankings, flipping places with No. 2 St. Thomas (Fla.). No. 3 Benedictine and No. 4 Morningside remained the same. The Frontier Conference also saw Carroll check in at No. 14.
In the Area Ratings Committee rankings, Tech stayed at No. 2 in the West Region. The Orediggers were No. 4 in the Massey Ratings and tied for No. 6 in the NAIA's Football Performance Index, both of which were announced Monday. The FPI and Massey indexes are primary criteria in the NAIA's postseason selection process.
The Orediggers will wrap up the regular season Saturday at Valley City State with kickoff at 1 p.m. CST.
STADIONIC NAIA Football National Selection Committee Poll (Nov. 10)
| TREND |
RANK |
LAST |
INSTITUTION |
RECORD |
| ▲ |
1 |
2 |
College of Idaho |
9-0 |
| ▼ |
2 |
1 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
10-0 |
| ● |
3 |
3 |
Benedictine (Kan.) |
10-1 |
| ● |
4 |
4 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
9-1 |
| ● |
5 |
5 |
Montana Tech |
9-1 |
| ● |
6 |
6 |
Marian (Ind.) |
9-1 |
| ● |
7 |
7 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
9-1 |
| ● |
8 |
8 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
9-1 |
| ● |
9 |
9 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
8-2 |
| ● |
10 |
10 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
8-1 |
| ● |
11 |
11 |
Dordt (Iowa) |
8-2 |
| ▲ |
12 |
13 |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
8-2 |
| ▲ |
13 |
14 |
Southwestern (Kan.) |
9-1 |
| ▼ |
14 |
12 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
7-2 |
| ▲ |
15 |
NR |
Friends (Kan.) |
9-1 |
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.
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