Carroll (Mont.) Ends 2007 as No. 1 Team in Football World

Fighting Saints won fifth title in the last six years

Jan. 14, 2008

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Powered behind the 17-9 Championship victory Dec. 15, Carroll (Mont.) holds the distinction of No. 1 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Football Top 25 Coaches' Postseason Poll, announced today  (Jan. 14). The Fighting Saints snapped the 27-game winning streak of then undefeated and No. 1 Sioux Falls (S.D.) in Savannah, Tenn., to finish 15-0 and with the hardware for the fifth time in six years. USF ended with a No. 2 ranking after spending 12 straight polls (including preseason) as the top-ranked team.

Missouri Valley moved up to No. 3 after advancing to the NAIA Semifinal round. The Vikings pushed Sioux Falls to the limits, falling 11-10 back on Dec. 2 in snow-filled Sioux Falls, S.D. No. 4 St. Francis (Ind.) and No. 5 Bethel (Tenn.) both were mainstays in the Top 10 all season. In fact, St. Francis and Bethel have held the four and five spots for the last seven straight polls.

The poll was voted upon by a 17 member-panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and independents.

Head coach Mike Van Diest gathered his third AFCA Coach of the Year award (in nine seasons) after his Saints were the first 15-0 team since 2003. Sioux Falls quarterback Chad Cavender was awarded the Rawlings-NAIA Player of the Year as he went 27-1 in his career as a two-year starter. This season, Cavender was 250-for-379 passing (66.0 %) with 26 touchdowns and 3,409 yards.

2007 NAIA Football Top 25 Coaches' Poll - Jan. 14 (Rating #11 - POSTSEASON)

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL	1st PLACE VOTES	2007 RECORD	TOTAL POINTS
1	2	Carroll (Mont.)	15	15-0	375
2	1	Sioux Falls (S.D.)		13-1	360
3	9	Missouri Valley		10-3	339
4	5	St. Francis (Ind.)		11-2	334
5	4	Bethel (Tenn.)		11-2	305
6	3	Ohio Dominican		12-1	302
7	11	Morningside (Iowa)		9-3	280
8	10	Saint Xavier (Ill.)		10-3	266
9	12	Lindenwood (Mo.)		10-2	238
10	7	St. Ambrose (Iowa)		8-3	231
11	6	Jamestown (N.D.)		9-2	227
12	8	Friends (Kan.)		9-2	223
13	13	MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)		9-3	197
14	14	Virginia-Wise		9-2	165
15	15	Northwestern (Iowa)		8-2	162
16	17	Cumberlands (Ky.)		8-3	151
17	16	Bethel (Kan.)		8-1	149
18	18	Northwestern Oklahoma		8-4	122
19	19	Sterling (Kan.)		8-2	100
20	20	Black Hills State (S.D.)		7-4	96
21	T21	Azusa Pacific (Calif.)		6-5	48
T22	24	Montana Tech		7-4	47
T22	T21	Nebraska Wesleyan		7-3	47
24	23	Georgetown (Ky.)		6-4	41
25	25	Malone (Ohio)		7-4	39

Others receiving votes:

Minot State (N.D.) 15; William Jewell (Mo.) 11; Shorter (Ga.) 3; Southern Oregon 2