When the Carroll College football team walked off the field in Rome, Ga., last November, it did so as the second-best NAIA team in the nation.

When the Saints take the field for their Aug. 29 season-opener against Asuza Pacific, they will pick up right where they left off.

Carroll (13-1 last season) was ranked the No. 2 team in the nation in the NAIA preseason coaches' poll, released Monday. Defending national champion Sioux Falls (S.D.) leads the nation with 418 points and 17 of 18 possible first-place votes.

";You can't go much higher than No. 2," Carroll coach Mike Van Diest said. ";Sioux Falls won the championship, so they probably deserve it."

Carroll received the lone other first-place vote and compiled 402 points. Lindenwood University of Missouri was third with 382 points, followed by Saint Francis of Indiana (374) and Morningside College of Iowa (354).

";I don't know if we deserve it," Van Diest said. ";There's not a whole lot of merit to preseason polls. With a playoff system, it puts it to rest. We're all starting the season equal."

High expectations, of course, are nothing new for the Saints, who have won nine straight Frontier Conference titles and five national championships since 2002.

";We don't talk about championships, we talk about being the best we can be," Van Diest said. ";We have high expectations of ourselves, beyond the scoreboard. We know the bar has been set high."

Sioux Falls, which has won two of the past three NAIA national championships, has been ranked either first or second in the last 32 national polls.

The Cougars return several starters, including senior quarterback Lorenzo Brown, who was named the Offensive Player of the Game in last year's title game.

Van Diest said he hasn't given much thought to a potential rematch with the Cougars.

";I don't think you can look down the road," he said. ";We've got a game against Azusa."

Montana Northern was the only other Frontier Conference school to be ranked in the top 25, coming in at No. 18.

";They've certainly proven themselves," Van Diest said of Northern.

The Saints completed their third day of fall practice on Monday, with no major injuries thus far.

Mark Vinson: 447-4070 or mark.vinson@helenair.com