NPI Rankings  |  About the NPI

INDIANAPOLIS – The Slippery Rock University football team was ranked No. 1 in Division II when the NCAA released its first official set of NPI rankings Sunday.
 
The NCAA Power Index (NPI) is the new ranking system that will be used to determine postseason fields in Division II in 2026-27, replacing the ranking committees and former criteria. The NPI ranks all programs in the division and will replace the regional rankings announcements from previous years. The data can be sorted by region to determine the regional rankings. Each sport committee was responsible for determining the criteria and setting the "dials" for their respective sport. More info on NPI is available HERE.
 
NPI evaluates a team's season by considering both results and the strength of the teams it plays. Each contest produces a value based on whether the team won, lost or tied and the opponent's NPI.
 
Slippery Rock currently ranks No. 1 among all teams in the country with an NPI number of 66.161. Harding is No. 2 at 65.624, followed by Northwood (63.760), Colorado State Pueblo (63.751) and Ferris State (63.531) rounding out the top five. There are nine total teams with an NPI above 60, including Emporia State (62.666), Minnesota State (61.783), Kutztown (61.746) and Northwest Missouri State (60.103), while Davenport (59.733) rounds out the top 10.
 
The Rock are rewarded in the metrics for owning a perfect 7-0 overall record and for road wins over current No. 15 East Stroudsburg and No. 28 Indiana (Pa.) and a home win over No. 23 Minnesota Duluth.
 
The current Super Region One top 10 rankings include Slippery Rock leading the way, followed by Kutztown, East Stroudsburg, Virginia State and West Liberty rounding out the top five. Indiana (Pa.) is sixth in the region, followed by Virginia Union, Johnson C. Smith, Franklin Pierce and Assumption rounding out the top 10.
 
The Rock will look to keep their position atop the region with a Homecoming game against Lock Haven next Saturday at 1 p.m. Lock Haven enters that game ranked No. 14 in the region, but is just one game back of SRU in the PSAC West standings with a 3-1 divisional record.
 
The NPI will be updated each Sunday for the rest of the season until the NCAA Selection Show Sunday, Nov. 15, The final rankings will not be posted publicly on Nov. 15 until after the Selection Show.
 
SUPER REGION ONE RANKINGS
Oct. 18

Rank	Team	DII W-L	NPI
1	SLIPPERY ROCK	7-0	66.161
2	Kutztown	6-0	61.746
3	East Stroudsburg	5-1	59.376
4	Virginia State	7-0	56.931
5	West Liberty	6-1	55.810
6	Indiana (Pa.)	5-2	55.567
7	Virginia Union	6-1	55.445
8	Johnson C. Smith	6-1	54.682
9	Franklin Pierce	4-0	54.379
10	Assumption	4-2	54.327

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