Oredigger Football enters 2024 Season ranked 21st in the Nation

The following is a release from the Montana Tech Sports Information Department:

KANSAS CITY, Mo.- Montana Tech will open the 2024 football season as the No. 21 team in NAIA football.

The Orediggers are one of three Frontier teams to make the top 25, with the College of Idaho checking in at No.4, and Montana Western landing at No.11. Southern Oregon, and Carroll College both received votes, but not enough to land on the list.

Montana Tech's week 1 opponent, Georgetown, KY. finds themselves at No.3 in the poll. Setting the stage for what should be an epic Copper Game matchup on August 29^th at Alumni Coliseum.

The Orediggers starting the 2024 campaign in the top 25, marks the 13^th straight that Montana Tech has been nationally ranked, dating back to November 7, 2022.
Keiser (Fla.) starts off the year at the top of the NAIA Football GoRout Top 25 Ratings, gathering 14 of the 16 first place votes. The reigning champions are followed by Northwestern (Iowa) with two first place votes and in second place. Georgetown (Ky.) is third, trailed by College of Idaho and Grand View (Iowa.)

Poll Methodology:

• The rating is rated by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences. Each conference is given one rater for every four schools in the league or division.
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each rater rates the best teams. A team receives 25 points for each first-place vote, 24 for second-place, 23 for third-place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ratings for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) are removed. The team's rating will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the team appears on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes."

Receiving Votes: Southern Oregon 26; Carroll (Mont.) 21; Concordia (Mich.) 13; Ottawa (Kan.) 2; Pikeville (Ky.) 2