Eastern Oregon coach Ryan Looney's Mountaineers climbed to No. 5 in the nation.
EOU (5), OIT (8) Remain in NAIA's Top 25 Basketball Poll
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - In the final regular season edition, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) vaulted to No. 1 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Division II Men's Basketball Top 25 Coaches' Poll, announced today. The Pioneers held the No. 1 ranking for the first four polls this year. Since then, they have never dropped below No. 8. MANU earned 11 first-place votes and 504 total points.
MidAmerica holds a slight points (504-497) edge over No. 2 Morningside (Iowa). The Mustangs were the No. 1 team the last six weeks thanks to a 23-0 start. Bellevue (Neb.) moves up two spots to No. 3 followed by No. 4 Walsh (Ohio) and No. 5 Eastern Oregon. The Mountaineers jumped four spots and are joined by fellow Cascade Collegiate Conference member Oregon Tech in the top 10; the Owls are ranked eighth.
One team that finds itself in the Top 25 for the first time all season is No. 25 Indiana-Southeast. The Grenadiers, who have won 10 in-a-row, were in the "receiving votes" category the last six weeks.
Nine teams have already punched their ticket to the National Championship in Point Lookout, Mo., March 12-18: College of St. Joseph (Vt.) out of the Sunrise Conference, Menlo College (Calif.) out of the California Pacific Athletic Conference, Eastern Oregon University out of the Cascade Collegiate Conference, MidAmerica Nazarene out of the Heart of America Athletic Conference, Walsh (Ohio) out of the American Mideast Conference, King (Tenn.) out of the Appalachian Athletic Conference, Morningside out of the Great Plains Athletic Conference, Ottawa (Kan.) out of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference and College of the Ozarks (Mo.) as the automatic bid for the host institution.
The official announcement of the 32-team field for the 17th Annual Division II Championship will occur late on Tuesday, March 4. The official pairings and bracket will happen on Wednesday, March 5.
| 2007-08 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Top 25 Coaches' Poll - Feb. 27 (Rating #10) |
| RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL |
2007-08 RECORD* |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
2 |
MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) |
27-3 |
504 |
| 2 |
1 |
Morningside College (Iowa) |
27-2 |
497 |
| 3 |
5 |
Bellevue University (Neb.) |
26-3 |
466 |
| 4 |
6 |
Walsh University (Ohio) |
22-4 |
462 |
| 5 |
9 |
Eastern Oregon University |
24-4 |
435 |
| 6 |
3 |
Evangel University (Mo.) |
24-6 |
423 |
| 7 |
11 |
Northwestern College (Iowa) |
24-4 |
380 |
| 8 |
4 |
Oregon Institute of Technology |
25-5 |
377 |
| 9 |
7 |
College of the Ozarks (Mo.) |
25-4 |
370 |
| 10 |
10 |
King College (Tenn.) |
23-7 |
358 |
| 11 |
8 |
Bethel College (Ind.) |
24-6 |
350 |
| 12 |
13 |
Northwood University (Fla.) |
24-6 |
335 |
| 13 |
12 |
William Penn University (Iowa) |
25-5 |
318 |
| 14 |
16 |
Aquinas College (Mich.) |
23-7 |
248 |
| 15 |
15 |
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.) |
25-5 |
245 |
| 16 |
19 |
Dakota Wesleyan University (S.D.) |
23-7 |
244 |
| 17 |
14 |
Jamestown College (N.D.) |
22-7 |
238 |
| 18 |
21 |
Cedarville University (Ohio) |
20-7 |
237 |
| 19 |
18 |
Grace College (Ind.) |
22-8 |
199 |
| 20 |
23 |
Bluefield College (Va.) |
23-6 |
164 |
| 21 |
24 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan University |
23-5 |
152 |
| 22 |
17 |
Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Ohio) |
22-6 |
134 |
| 23 |
22 |
Dordt College (Iowa) |
19-9 |
133 |
| 24 |
20 |
Ottawa University (Kan.) |
21-7 |
123 |
| 25 |
RV |
Indiana University Southeast |
22-8 |
105 |
Others Receiving Votes:
Valley City State University (N.D.) 98; Huntington University (Ind.) 93; Evergreen State College (Wash.)
61; Menlo College (Calif.) 56; Warner Pacific College (Ore) 25; Malone College (Ohio) 21; Clarke College (Iowa) 15; Central Methodist University (Mo.) 12; Judson College (Ill.) 8; Briar Cliff University (Iowa) 7;
William Jewell College (Mo.) 5; Indiana Institute of Technology 3; Indiana Wesleyan University 3; Warner
Southern College (Fla.) 1
* Record through games played Feb. 24