Kansas City, Mo. - The Central Methodist football program landed in the national rankings for the first time this season as the Eagles come in at No. 22 in the latest NAIA Football Coaches' Top 25 poll.
Other Heart Schools featured in the Top 25 include No. 3 Grand View, No. 11 Baker, and No. 24 Culver-Stockton. This marks the first time Central has been ranked in the Top 25 since the 2009 season.
CMU has had a remarkable run in 2021, posting an 8-2 overall record and a perfect 4-0 mark in Heart South Division play. The Eagles went undefeated at home, and have averaged more than 30 points/game in their 10 games so far this season. The eight wins this season are the most since 1949 (8-1), with the only other eight plus win campaigns for Central coming in 1930 (9-0) and 1928 (8-2).
The most notable win for CMU was a thrilling upset over No. 5 Baker University last Saturday. Central handed the six-time defending Heart South Divison champions their first division loss since Nov. 4, 2017. With the win, CMU claimed at least a share of their first conference title since the 1975 season.
The Eagles will look to clinch the conference title outright against Evangel University Saturday, Nov. 13 at 1:00 p.m. in Nixa, Mo. A victory would give Central their first playoff berth in program history.
To view the poll methodology and the complete Top 25 poll, please see below.
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences.
- Each conference is given one rater for every four schools in the league.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 25 points for each first-place vote, 24 for second-place and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team's ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes."
- For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
| RANK | LAST | SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | WON | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) [18] | 9-0 | 444 |
| 2 | 3 | Morningside (Iowa) [1] | 9-0 | 427 |
| 3 | 4 | Grand View (Iowa) | 10-0 | 404 |
| 4 | 2 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 9-1 | 391 |
| 5 | 6 | Kansas Wesleyan | 10-0 | 377 |
| 6 | 7 | Indiana Wesleyan | 8-1 | 364 |
| 7 | 8 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 8-2 | 342 |
| 8 | 9 | Marian (Ind.) | 7-2 | 325 |
| 9 | 10 | Concordia (Mich.) | 7-1 | 306 |
| 10 | 11 | Bethel (Kan.) | 9-1 | 284 |
| 11 | 5 | Baker (Kan.) | 8-2 | 271 |
| 12 | 12 | Keiser (Fla.) | 7-2 | 264 |
| 13 | 13 | Southwestern (Kan.) | 8-1 | 232 |
| 14 | 14 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 7-2 | 222 |
| 15 | 15 | Ottawa (Ariz.) | 7-1 | 213 |
| 16 | 17 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 7-2 | 179 |
| 17 | 16 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 7-2 | 176 |
| 18 | 19 | College of Idaho | 7-2 | 149 |
| 19 | 20 | Dickinson State (N.D.) | 7-2 | 135 |
| 20 | 21 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 6-2 | 116 |
| 21 | 24 | Arizona Christian | 7-2 | 88 |
| 22 | NR | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 8-2 | 63 |
| 23 | 25 | Montana Western | 7-3 | 52 |
| 24 | 22 | Culver-Stockton (Mo.) | 7-3 | 48 |
| T-25 | NR | Dordt (Iowa) | 6-3 | 26 |
| T-25 | 18 | Langston (Okla.) | 7-2 | 26 |
Dropped from the poll: Bethel (Tenn.)
Receiving Votes: Faulkner (Ala.) 7; Valley City State (N.D.) 8; Southeastern (Fla.) 6; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 6
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