2002 NAIA football rankings
One human poll made up the 2002 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) football rankings, sometimes called the NAIA Coaches' Poll or the football ratings. Once the regular season was complete, the NAIA sponsored a playoff to determine the year's national champion. A final poll was then taken after completion of the 2002 NAIA Football National Championship.[1]
| Increase in ranking | ||
| Decrease in ranking | ||
| Not ranked previous week | ||
* |
NAIA National Champion | |
| т | Tied with team above or below also with this symbol |
Poll release dates
The poll release dates were:
- August 20, 2002 (Preseason)
- September 10, 2002 (Week 1)
- September 17, 2002 (Week 2)
- September 24, 2002 (Week 3)
- October 1, 2002 (Week 4)
- October 8, 2002 (Week 5)
- October 15, 2002 (Week 6)
- October 22, 2002 (Week 7)
- October 29, 2002 (Week 8)
- November 5, 2002 (Week 9)
- November 12, 2002 (Week 10)
- November 17, 2002 (Final)
- January 12, 2003 (Postseason)
Week by week poll
Leading vote-getters
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 postseason poll of the 2002 season, the teams 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.
In 1999, the results of a postseason poll, if one was conducted, are not known. Therefore, an additional poll has been presumed, and the #1 postseason ranking has been credited to the postseason tournament champion, the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers.
| Team | Total #1 Rankings |
|---|---|
| Georgetown (KY) | 23 (2) |
| Northwestern Oklahoma State | 12 (1) |
| Sioux Falls (SD) | 10 |
| Azusa Pacific (CA) | 3 |
| Carroll (MT) | 1 (1) |