KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Montana Western and Montana Tech ended the regular season ranked inside the top 10 of the NAIA football top 25.
The poll was released Sunday ahead of the NAIA unveiling the bracket for the national playoffs, where both Western and Tech received first-round byes.
The Frontier Conference-champion Bulldogs finished the regular season 9-1 overall and ranked fourth in the NAIA top 25. Tech is 9-2 and ranked eighth. Southern Oregon is the only other Frontier team in the poll at No. 22, as Carroll dropped out of the rankings after last week's loss to Tech.
The top 13 of the rankings went unchanged from last week. Keiser (Fla.) is the No. 1-ranked team and received all 15 first-place votes. Grand View (Iowa) and Indiana Wesleyan are second and third, and St. Thomas (Fla.) is fifth. View the complete poll.
The NAIA playoffs begin Saturday with four first-round matchups. Tech and Western will host second-round games on Nov. 30 with their opponents to be determined.
