Yotes, Owls Picked 2-3 in NAIA West Poll
NAIA Preseason Top 25 Poll
PORTLAND, Ore. – Defending champion University of British Columbia is favored to retain its NAIA West baseball crown, according to a preseason NAIA West rating.
The NAIA West is comprised of four Cascade Collegiate Conference programs, two from the Cal Pac Conference, two NAIA independents, and one member of the Frontier Conference.
UBC, College of Idaho, Concordia and Corban, along with NAIA World Series host Lewis-Clark State, form the North Division of the NAIA West; the South Division is comprised of Oregon Tech, Menlo (Calif.), Patten (Calif.) and Simpson (Calif.).
The top two teams in each division, plus one wild-card, will advance to the NAIA West postseason tournament in May to determine the grouping’s automatic bid to the NAIA Championships. (Lewis-Clark State is excluded from the grouping’s postseason tournament since it already has an automatic bid to the World Series as the tournament host).
The champion of the South Division will earn the right to host the postseason tournament, which is slated for May 4-7.
Oregon Tech has won the past two South Division crowns, while University of British Columbia has captured the last two North Division titles.
In the NAIA’s preseason Top 25, UBC is rated 10th and College of Idaho is listed 21st.
2011 NAIA West Preseason Rating
| Rk. |
Team |
Overall |
Conf. |
| 1 |
University of British Columbia* |
41-13 |
27-5 |
| 2 |
College of Idaho* |
38-16 |
26-6 |
| 3 |
Oregon Tech+ |
27-30 |
17-14 |
| 4 |
Simpson (Calif.)+ |
19-28-1 |
12-17 |
| 5 |
Concordia* |
10-34 |
6-18 |
| 6 |
Menlo (Calif.)+ |
22-15 |
n/a |
| 7 |
Patten (Calif.)+ |
12-31 |
9-16 |
| 8 |
Corban* |
14-37 |
7-24 |
Note: Lewis-Clark State is excluded from the rating since it has an automatic bid to the NAIA World Series as tournament host
*indicates member of NAIA West “North Division”
+indicates member of NAIA West “South Division”