KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Louisiana Christian University football program is back where it rightfully belongs after spending the past three weekends stuck in the receiving votes category, making its triumphant re-entrance back among the best 25 teams in the NAIA, sliding into the 25th and final spot in this week's poll.
 
Friends (Kansas) joins LCU in the backend of the rankings, displacing Concordia (Michigan) and Southwestern (Kansas) at #24 and #25, respectively, with the Wildcats snatching 22 total points to sit seven votes in front of the first team out of the picture, the MidAmerica Nazarene Pioneers.
 
The Orange and Blue had an unofficial bye week, playing a Senior Day scrimmage against unaccredited John Melvin University out of Crowley, Louisiana, who could possibly be a future expansion candidate for the Sooner Athletic Conference.
 
The other two SAC squads that have been mainstays in the top 25 are Ottawa (Arizona) and Texas Wesleyan.
 
OUAZ, the only team to beat the Cats, stayed still at #19 after also sitting idle over the weekend while this week's opponent, the Rams of TexWes, moved up one slot to #15 after a 42-19 dismantling of Langston on the road.
 
Head Coach Drew Maddox and the freshly ranked Gridiron Cats can do something that no other can claim in 83 combined seasons between 1908 and 2022, claim any part of a conference championship, which would be successfully accomplished with a win in Fort Worth on Saturday.
 
Follow the football program on Facebook (@LCUWildcatsFootball), Twitter/X (@LCU_Ftball) and Instagram (@LCU_Ftball).
 
Follow the Wildcats on Facebook (@LCUAthletics), Twitter/X (@LCU_Wildcats) and Instagram (@LCU_Wildcats).