After suffering a tough 36-30 overtime defeat to #2 Iowa Western, Butler football moved down four spots to ninth in this week's NJCAA Top 20 National Poll.
Butler (1-1 overall, 1-0 KJCCC) is the highest ranked one-loss team in the poll, as the Grizzlies received 90 votes.
For the third straight poll, East Misssissippi remained in the top spot, while Iowa Western holds down the second spot. East Mississippi received 140 votes and all nine first-place votes. Trinity Valley (TX) moved up one spot to third, while Mississippi Gulf Coast and Jones County (MS) are fourth and fifth.
Rounding out the top 10 are Hutchinson, ASA (NY), Snow (UT), Butler and Nassau (NY).
Butler is one of two KJCCC teams ranked in this week's poll, with Hutchinson (2-0) moving up five spots to sixth. The Blue Dragons defeated unranked Fort Scott 55-10 on Saturday. Coffeyville (1-1) is among one of five teams receiving votes, as the Red Ravens defeated then-No. 17 Ellsworth, Iowa 58-13.
The Grizzlies will host Hutchinson this Saturday at 7 p.m. at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex. This will be the second straight game in which Butler has played a top 10 opponent. Butler has won 23 straight contests over Hutchinson and leads the overall series 45-44-1.
| 2014 NJCAA TOP 20 FOOTBALL POLL | ||||
| September 9, 2014 | ||||
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Prev. |
| 1. | East Mississippi (9) | 2-0 | 140 | 1 |
| 2. | Iowa Western |
2-0 | 133 | 2 |
| 3. | Trinity Valley, TX | 2-0 | 126 | 4 |
| 4. | Mississippi Gulf Coast | 2-0 | 117 | 7 |
| 5. | Jones County |
2-0 | 105 | 9 |
| 6. | Hutchinson |
2-0 | 100 | 11 |
| 7. | ASA, NY |
1-0 | 95 | 8 |
| 8. | Snow, UT | 2-0 | 94 | 12 |
| 9. | Butler | 1-1 | 90 | 5 |
| 10. | Nassau, NY | 2-0 | 79 | 13 |
| 11. | Copiah-Lincoln | 1-1 | 67 | 3 |
| 12. | Navarro, TX | 2-1 | 56 | 6 |
| 13. | Tyler, TX | 1-1 | 52 | 16 |
| 14. | Kilgore, TX | 2-0 | 42 | RV |
| 15. | Arizona Western | 2-1 | 39 | 10 |
| 16. | Central Lakes-Brainerd, MN |
2-0 | 35 | 18 |
| 17. | DuPage, IL | 2-0 | 32 | 20 |
| 18. | Pearl River, MS |
2-0 | 15 | NR |
| 19. | Dean, MA | 2-0 | 10 | RV |
| 20. | Rochester, MN | 2-1 | 9 | 15 |
Other schools receiving votes: Blinn, TX (1-1, 5); North Dakota State College of Science (3-0, 2); Georgia Military (0-2, 1); Coffeyville (1-1, 1); Scottsdale, AZ (1-1, 1).
Dropped from rankings: Georgia Military (14); Ellsworth, IA (17), Glendale, AZ (19).
