KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Indiana Wesleyan holds the No. 1 ranking in the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll, the national office announced
Tuesday. With 10 first-place votes and 370 total points, the defending national champions earn their fourth overall No. 1 ranking in school history. Indiana Wesleyan finished the 2013-14 campaign with a 31-6 overall record.
Indiana Wesleyan was picked by the Crossroads League coaches as the No. 1 preseason selection. Lane Mahurin returns to the mix after averaging 9.9 points per contest and 5.7 rebounds in 24 starts. Last year, the Wildcats rolled through the national championship as the No. 5 seed and became the first team in championship history to post all five wins by at least 10 points. Indiana Wesleyan tips-off its season with a home contest against Oklahoma Wesleyan
on Friday.
No. 2 (tie) Midland (Neb.), who was defeated 78-68 by Indiana Wesleyan in the 2014 title game, joins the Wildcats as the only teams in the top five to hold their position from the Postseason Top 25. The Warriors gathered 344 total points and two first-place nods. 2013-14 NAIA All-America Honorable Mention pick Galen Gullie (12.2 ppg, 3.1 apg) returns from a team that went 30-6 last season.
Tied at No. 2, Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) compiled 344 points and will look to improve upon its 30-5 record last year. The Wolves, who slide up two positions, advanced to the national championship second round.
Improving three spots, No. 4 Davenport (Mich.) recorded 331 points and the final two first-place votes. The Panthers ended their year at 29-7 and a spot in the national championship quarterfinals.
Rounding out the top five, No. 5 Northwood (Fla.) collected 327 points. The Seahawks (26-7) boasted the best improvement within the Top 25, moving up 15 spots from the postseason poll. 2013-14 NAIA First Team All-American Chris Solomon is expected back and brings in a 20.5 scoring average.
No. 13 Embry-Riddle (Fla.), a team that claimed an 11-spot improvement, stands in the top 15 for the first time since Feb. 4, 2014.
No. 23 Saint Xavier (Ill.) tumbled the farthest within the poll, down 12 positions from last year.
No. 19 Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) headlines the list of newcomers. The Eagles are enjoying their first Top 25 mention in school history after a 20-14 record a year ago. No. 20 (tie) Tabor (Kan.) is ranked for the first time since Feb. 22, 2005 (No. 22). No. 14 St. Ambrose (Iowa), No. 17 Southern Oregon and No. 25 Concordia (Ore.) all were in the Top 25 at least once during the 2013-14 campaign.
Teams to fall out from the Postseason Top 25 are: Friends (Kan.) (No. 8), IU Southeast (Ind.) (T11), Dordt (Iowa) (No. 14), Briar Cliff (Iowa) (No. 17), Oklahoma Wesleyan (No. 21) and Huntington (Ind.) (No. 22).
Thirteen of 14 conferences and Association of Independent Institutions are represented this week, led by four teams from The Sun Conference: Northwood, No. 9 Southeastern (Fla.), Embry-Riddle and No. 24 St. Thomas (Fla.). The Cascade Collegiate Conference, Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference and Crossroads League each landed a trio of programs.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and independents. The first regular-season Top 25 will be announced on
Dec. 2. For more information on the polls, click
here.
NOTES: (All information dates back to 1991 – 1992 season, which is the start of Division II) Indiana Wesleyan has now held the top ranking in two-straight polls and four overall… No. 2 (tie) Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) has now boasted a top-five ranking in 27-straight polls dating back to the start of the 2012-13 season... Last year, there were three different No. 1 teams – Indiana Wesleyan, Cardinal Stritch and Embry-Riddle (Fla.)… There were 45 different teams ranked last year... Bethel's (Ind.) 35 all-time No. 1 mentions tops the list, followed by 21 by Embry-Riddle (Fla.), 15 by Oregon Tech and 14 by former Division II member MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)... Northwood (Fla.) holds the longest active streak of being ranked with 80-consecutive mentions (dating back to Feb. 6, 2008) and right behind is Davenport (Mich.) with 64-straight... There have been 36 teams to be ranked No. 1 all-time... Jamestown and Embry-Riddle are the only Division II programs to last the entire season ranked in the No. 1 position -- Jamestown did it during the 2003-04 campaign (11 polls) and Embry-Riddle's run was during 2000-01 (nine polls).
2014 – 15 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll - (Oct. 28)
|
RANK |
LAST WEEK^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2013-14 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
1 |
Indiana Wesleyan (10) |
31-6 |
370 |
|
T2 |
2 |
Midland (Neb.) (2) |
30-6 |
344 |
|
T2 |
4 |
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
30-5 |
344 |
|
4 |
7 |
Davenport (Mich.) (2) |
29-7 |
331 |
|
5 |
20 |
Northwood (Fla.) |
26-7 |
327 |
|
6 |
13 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
29-6 |
310 |
|
7 |
9 |
College of Idaho |
28-6 |
303 |
|
8 |
5 |
Robert Morris (Ill.) |
26-10 |
298 |
|
9 |
3 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
27-7 |
281 |
|
10 |
10 |
Bethel (Ind.) |
28-8 |
271 |
|
11 |
6 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) |
30-5 |
248 |
|
12 |
T18 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
25-9 |
206 |
|
13 |
24 |
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) |
24-8 |
205 |
|
14 |
RV |
St. Ambrose (Iowa) |
22-8 |
191 |
|
15 |
T18 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
21-11 |
177 |
|
16 |
23 |
Union (Ky.) |
28-5 |
176 |
|
17 |
RV |
Southern Oregon |
22-9 |
162 |
|
18 |
16 |
William Penn (Iowa) |
24-10 |
161 |
|
19 |
RV |
Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) |
20-14 |
139 |
|
T20 |
RV |
Tabor (Kan.) |
20-13 |
134 |
|
T20 |
25 |
Ashford (Iowa) |
23-10 |
134 |
|
22 |
17 |
Cal Maritime |
27-6 |
125 |
|
23 |
T11 |
Saint Xavier (Ill.) |
30-5 |
99 |
|
24 |
15 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
26-7 |
85 |
|
25 |
RV |
Concordia (Ore.) |
22-10 |
67 |
Others receiving votes: Rio Grande (Ohio) 56; Waldorf (Iowa) 55; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 52; Indiana Southeast 50; Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 50; Huntington (Ind.) 49; Northwestern Ohio 30; Dakota State (S.D.) 21; College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 17; Grace (Ind.) 8; Rochester (Mich.) 7; Briar Cliff (Iowa) 5; Indiana East 4; Grand View (Iowa) 3.
^ Ranking from 2013-14 Coaches’ Postseason Top 25 Poll (March 26, 2014)