KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Rocky Mountain College will begin the 2019 season ranked No. 23 in the 2019 NAIA Football Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll. The Battlin' Bears received 66 points.
The poll is voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences. Each conference provides one rater for every four schools in their league.
Four Frontier Conference teams earned a ranking this year. Both College of Idaho, ranked No. 15, and Southern Oregon, ranked No. 20, finished ahead of the Battlin' Bears. Montana Western rounded out the poll with a No. 25 ranking. Defending champion Morningside College took the top ranking with 366 votes after finishing the 2018 season undefeated.
The poll follows nearly a week after the Frontier Conference released their official coaches' poll and media poll. The Battlin' Bears were ranked fifth in both conference polls among the Frontier's eight teams.
The Battlin' Bears went 8-4 overall last season to claim their first Frontier Conference title since 1999. Rocky's season came to an end in the opening round of the 2018 NAIA Football National Championship after losing to Morningside.
Rocky ranked No. 20 in the 2018 NAIA Football Preseason Coaches' Poll, but finished the season ranked No. 16 in the postseason poll.
The upcoming season marks the first for head football coach
Chris Stutzriem who took over the program in December 2018.
The Battlin' Bears will kick off the 2019 season on the road against Dickinson State on Aug. 29 at 6 p.m.
2019 NAIA Football Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll
| RANK |
SCHOOL |
FINAL POINTS |
| 1 |
Morningside (Iowa) [16] |
366 |
|
| 2 |
Benedictine (Kan.) |
352 |
|
| 3 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
338 |
|
| 4 |
Kansas Wesleyan |
307 |
|
| 5 |
Saint Xavier (Ill.) |
300 |
|
| 6 |
Concordia (Mich.) |
280 |
|
| 7 |
Marian (Ind.) |
278 |
|
| 8 |
Baker (Kan.) |
268 |
|
| 9 |
Dickinson State (N.D.) |
230 |
|
| 10 |
Reinhardt (Ga.) |
224 |
|
| 11 |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
214 |
|
| 12 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
185 |
|
| 13 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
182 |
|
| 14 |
Langston (Okla.) |
171 |
|
| 15 |
College of Idaho |
164 |
|
| 16 |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
161 |
|
| 17 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
157 |
|
| 18 |
Evangel (Mo.) |
136 |
|
| 19 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
88 |
|
| 20 |
Southern Oregon |
82 |
|
| 21 |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
78 |
|
| 22 |
Ottawa (Kan.) |
70 |
|
| 23 |
Rocky Mountain College (Mont.) |
66 |
|
| 24 |
Dordt (Iowa) |
32 |
|
| 25 |
Montana Western |
27 |
|
