KC, MO (PlayNorthStar.com) – Two North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) schools are listed on the NAIA Football FirstDown PlayBook Top 25 Preseason Poll. Dickinson State (ND), who was selected as the league’s preseason favorite to win their eighth straight title, is ranked No. 16 in the national poll after tallying 178 points. The Blue Hawks were ranked No. 15 in last year’s postseason poll with an 8-3 record, including a perfect 8-0 undefeated record in the North Star conference play. DiSU fell to Grand View (Iowa) in the opening round of the NAIA Football Championships Series (FCS) last season.
Valley City State (ND) is listed in the receiving votes section at No. 28 after recording 21 points. The Vikings picked up the final first place vote in the conference preseason poll and finished in a two-way tie for second with Waldorf (IA). VCSU was 8-2 overall record, including a 6-2 mark in the league play. Morningside (IA) earned all 18 first-place votes to begin the 2022 campaign with a No. 1 ranking. The Mustangs won the national title last season with an overall record of 14-0.
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.
Elsewhere in the region, four GPAC squads were recognized.
| RANK | LAST | SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | CONFERENCE | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Morningside (Iowa) [19] | Great Plains | 14-0 | 418 |
| 2 | 2 | Grand View (Iowa) | Heart – North | 14-1 | 402 |
| 3 | 4 | Northwestern (Iowa) | Great Plains | 12-2 | 377 |
| 4 | 3 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | Mid South | 12-1 | 373 |
| 5 | 5 | Marian (Ind.) | Mid-States East | 9-3 | 356 |
| 6 | 6 | Concordia (Mich.) | Mid-States East | 9-2 | 327 |
| 7 | 7 | Keiser (Fla.) | The Sun | 9-3 | 312 |
| 8 | 8 | Southwestern (Kan.) | Kansas Collegiate | 9-2 | 307 |
| 9 | 9 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | Appalachian | 9-3 | 288 |
| 10 | 11 | Ottawa (Ariz.) | Sooner | 8-2 | 254 |
| 11 | 12 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | Mid-States West | 7-4 | 239 |
| 12 | 10 | Kansas Wesleyan | KCAC | 10-2 | 234 |
| 13 | 13 | Baker (Kan.) | Heart – South | 9-2 | 225 |
| 14 | 17 | Indiana Wesleyan | Mid-States East | 7-3 | 222 |
| 15 | 16 | Georgetown (Ky.) | Mid South | 8-2 | 199 |
| 16 | 15 | Dickinson State (N.D.) | North Star | 8-3 | 178 |
| 17 | 18 | Montana Western | Frontier | 8-4 | 176 |
| 18 | 14 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | Heart – South | 9-3 | 116 |
| 19 | 21 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | Frontier | 7-3 | 98 |
| 20 | 20 | Arizona Christian | Sooner | 8-2 | 83 |
| 21 | 23 | Dordt (Iowa) | Great Plains | 7-3 | 73 |
| 22 | 22 | Culver-Stockton (Mo.) | Heart – North | 8-3 | 68 |
| 23 | 19 | Bethel (Kan.) | Kansas Collegiate | 9-2 | 50 |
| 24 | 24 | Faulkner (Ala.) | Mid South | 8-2 | 46 |
| 25 | RV | St. Francis (Ill.) | Mid-States West | 6-3 | 30 |
| Receiving Votes: Carroll (Mont.) 29; Benedictine (Kan.) 23; Valley City State (N.D.) 21; Southeastern (Fla.) 20; College of Idaho 16; Texas Wesleyan 13; St. Thomas (Fla.) 6; Bethel (Tenn.) 3; Concordia (Neb.) 3 | |||||