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CITY  (NewsDakota.com)–The Viking football team took a small step toward the playoffs with a bump in the latest NAIA football poll.

Valley City State is ranked 15th this week, up one spot from the last two weeks after wins over Jamestown College and Mayville State.

The Vikings got their bump after Grand View, IA, receiving votest last week, defeated St. Francis, IL, who was ranked ninth.  Grand View moved into the top 25, while St. Francis fell to 16th, a spot behind the Vikings.

Unless Asuza Pacific were to lose a late season game, they would receive the automatic bid among independents.  The Vikings would then be totally dependent on the poll to advance to the post season.  They would need to stay in the top 16, and also hope that they would not be unseated by a conference champion that would be ranked in the top 20, but not the top 16.

Under NAIA rules, the top 16 teams make the playoffs, but a conference champion ranked in the top 20, but not the top 16, receives an automatic bid.  Those teams bump the bottom team, or teams, in the top 16.

Currently, one conference, the Central States Football League, has the likelihood that it’s conference champion would be ranked 20th or above, but not in the top 16.  The top two teams in the league are Langston, OK,  ranked 21st and 3-0 in league play, and Southern Nazarene, OK, ranked 20th and 2-1 in league play.  The teams play each other November 12.

The other possible threat is from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC), where Ottawa, KS leads the league at 7-0 in conference play.  They are ranked 13th.  A late loss could bump them from the top 16, but they have clinched a share of the league title.

The Vikings would be all-but assured a playoff spot at 14th.  With one game to go and at least two games among ranked teams left to be played, a win at Robert Morris, IL this weekend will likely win the Vikings a playoff spot.