Taylor Football Ranked No. 22 in Final NAIA Top-25 Poll
KANSAS CITY – Fresh off capping a historic 9-2 season that saw the Taylor football program rewrite its offensive record book en route to posting the second-highest win total in its 77-year history, the Trojans added another accomplishment by jumping into the final NAIA Top-25 Poll of the regular season.
The NAIA released its final poll of the regular season on Sunday evening, with TU earning 43 points to rank No. 22. The Trojans were the second-highest MSFA team in the poll, behind only No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan and in front of No. 24 Marian and No. 25 Saint Francis (IN).
The No. 22 national ranking marks TU's first appearance in the NAIA Top-25 since ranking No. 23 early into the 2012 campaign and is the program's highest ranking since also ranking No. 22 twice in 2010.
The No. 22 rating also marks the first time that Taylor football has ended its season inside the NAIA Top-25 since finishing at No. 20 in the 2009 campaign.
Taylor had one of the largest turnarounds in the NAIA during the memorable 2024 season, flipping its record from 2-9 in 2023 to 9-2 in 2024 and taking second place in MSFA Mideast League. Additionally, TU set new single-season program records for scoring average, total yards and rushing yards per game, total and rushing touchdowns and total points.
The Trojans closed their regular season ranked No. 1 in the NAIA with 54 rushing touchdowns, No. 2 with 311.7 rushing yards per game, No. 5 with 48.4 points per game, No. 6 with 486.4 total yards per game and No. 6 with touchdowns in 81-percent of its trips into the red zone.
On the defensive side of the ball, Taylor ranked No. 1 in the NAIA with 41 sacks and No. 4 with 14 forced fumbles.
Other highlights for Taylor included opening and closing the season with four-game win streaks, posting its best start since 1999, reaching nine wins for the second time ever, breaking its single-game scoring record and scoring at least 50 points in three-straight games for the first time ever. TU also rushed for over 300 yards in seven-of-11 games and scored at least 34 points in nine-of-11 outings.
Taylor came up just short of making even more history, failing to secure a bid in the NAIA Playoffs for the second time ever and the first since doing so in 1999. The MSFA's two automatic bids went to Indiana Wesleyan for winning the Mideast League and Saint Francis (IN) for winning the Midwest League. No team from the MSFA was awarded one of the seven available at-large bids into the 20-team playoff.