One human poll makes up the 2015 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) football rankings, sometimes called the NAIA Coaches' Poll or the football ratings. When the regular season is complete, the NAIA plans to sponsor a playoff to determine the year's national champion. A final poll will be taken after completion of the 2015 NAIA Football National Championship.[1]
The poll release dates are scheduled to be:
| 2015 Poll Release Dates | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spring | April 13 | |
| Preseason | August 10 | |
| Week 1 | September 14 | |
| Week 2 | September 21 | |
| Week 3 | September 28 | |
| Week 4 | October 5 | |
| Week 5 | October 12 | |
| Week 6 | October 19 | |
| Week 7 | October 26 | |
| Week 8 | November 2 | |
| Week 9 | November 9 | |
| Week 10 (Final Regular Season) | November 15 | |
| Postseason | December 21 |
| No change in ranking | ||||
| Increase in ranking | ||||
| Decrease in ranking | ||||
| Not ranked previous week | ||||
| NAIA National Champion | ||||
| Italics | Number of first place votes | |||
| (#-#) | Win–loss record | |||
| - style="text-align:center;" | (т) | Tied with team above or below also with this symbol |
Since the inception of the Coaches' Poll in 1999, the #1 ranking in the various weekly polls has been held by only a select group of teams. Through the end of 2015, the team and the number of times they have held the #1 weekly ranking are shown below. The number of times a team has been ranked #1 in the postseason poll (the national champion) is shown in parentheses.
There has been only one tie for the leading vote-getter in a weekly poll. In 2015, Southern Oregon was tied with Marian (IN) in the preseason poll.
In 1999, the results of a postseason poll, if one was conducted, are not known. Therefore, an additional poll was presumed, and the #1 postseason ranking has been credited to the postseason tournament champion, the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers.
| Team | Total #1 Rankings | |
|---|---|---|
| Carroll (MT) | 57 (6) | |
| 55 (3) | ||
| 25 (2) | ||
| 20 | ||
| 14 (1) | ||
| Marian (IN) | 12 (2) | |
| Northwestern Oklahoma State | 12 (1) | |
| Southern Oregon | 5 (1) | |
| 4 (1) | ||
| 4 | ||
| 3 | ||
| Saint Francis (IN) | 3 | |
| 2 |