NAIA DII Men's Basketball Top 25 Poll No. 6 Announced
COI No. 3, CU No, 11, SOU No. 12, WPC No. 21, NCU RV
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Dating back to last year, Indiana Wesleyan runs its No. 1 streak to eight polls in-a-row in the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. With eight first-place votes, the Wildcats gathered 369 total points in the sixth regular-season installment. The eight-straight No. 1 rankings for Indiana Wesleyan is the longest in Division II since former member Walsh (Ohio) rattled off eight-consecutive in the middle of the 2010-11 season.
The Wildcats lock down the top spot, despite falling, 88-85, to then-No. 8 Bethel (Ind.) in the NAIA Game of the Week on Jan. 24. Indiana Wesleyan looks for its 21st win on the year Tuesday as it travels to No. 18 Grace (Ind.). Then, the Wildcats turn around Saturday and host No. 13 Saint Francis (Ind.). Indiana Wesleyan currently holds a one-game lead in the Crossroads League standings over all three teams mentioned above.
No. 2 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) held down its spot from last week with 351 total points and two first-place nods. The Eagles lead The Sun Conference with a 7-1 mark.
With two first-place votes, No. 3 College of Idaho improves one position with 349 points. The Cascade Collegiate Conference race will heat up this weekend as the Coyotes head to No. 20 Warner Pacific (Ore.) Friday before visiting No. 11 Concordia (Ore.) Saturday.
Falling one spot, No. 4 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) owns the most wins in Division II with a 21-2 mark. The Tigers captured 340 total points this week.
For the second time this year, No. 5 Davenport (Mich.) posted two first-place votes. The Panthers sport a 19-3 overall mark and welcome Aquinas (Mich.) to Grand Rapids, Mich., on Wednesday.
No. 16 St. Francis (Ill.), with a seven-spot improvement, is this week’s biggest mover. After a five-game win streak, the Saints own the top spot in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference with an 11-0 mark.
Conversely, No. 19 Briar Cliff (Iowa) suffered a five-spot fall.
No. 24 (tie) IU East (Ind.) is this week’s newcomer. The Red Wolves, with a 17-6 record, held a No. 18 ranking back on Dec. 9, 2014.
Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) (No. 17), after three-straight rankings, falls out this week.
Ten of the 13 conferences/Association of Independent Institutions/unaffiliated groups are represented throughout the Top 25, led by four teams each from the Cascade Collegiate Conference, Crossroads League and Great Plains Athletic Conference. The Sun Conference and Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference is next with three Top 25 programs.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and independents. The seventh regular-season Top 25 will be announced on Feb. 3. For more information on the polls, click here.
NOTES (All information dates back to 1991 – 1992 season, which is the start of Division II) Top-ranked Indiana Wesleyan is looking to become the first Division II program since Jamestown (N.D.) in 2003-04 to claim the No. 1 ranking all season long… No. 10 Morningside (Iowa) enjoys its first top-10 spot since a No. 10 position on Dec. 1, 2008… In the Jan. 20 edition, No. 25 Jamestown gave the North Star Athletic Association its first ranked team this year… Through seven polls (including Preseason Top 25), 43 different teams have been ranked this season – there were 45 different programs last year… Fifteen teams have held a position in all six polls this year… Indiana Wesleyan earns its 10th overall No. 1 ranking in school history… In the Dec. 2 release, then-No. 13 Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) snapped a streak of 27-straight polls within the top-five dating back to the start of 2012-13 season… 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 86-consecutive mentions (dating back to Feb. 6, 2008) and right behind is Davenport (Mich.) with 70-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’ Top 25 Poll – (Jan. 27)
|
RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2014-15 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
1 |
Indiana Wesleyan (8) |
20-2 |
369 |
|
2 |
2 |
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (2) |
19-1 |
351 |
|
3 |
4 |
College of Idaho (2) |
20-3 |
349 |
|
4 |
3 |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
21-2 |
340 |
|
5 |
5 |
Davenport (Mich.) (2) |
19-3 |
339 |
|
6 |
6 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
18-3 |
311 |
|
7 |
8 |
Bethel (Ind.) |
19-3 |
305 |
|
8 |
9 |
Midland (Neb.) |
18-4 |
290 |
|
9 |
7 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) |
17-5 |
274 |
|
10 |
11 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
17-3 |
263 |
|
11 |
12 |
Concordia (Ore.) |
18-3 |
251 |
|
12 |
10 |
Southern Oregon |
18-4 |
241 |
|
13 |
13 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
17-5 |
240 |
|
14 |
16 |
Mount Mercy (Iowa) |
17-3 |
217 |
|
15 |
15 |
College of the Ozarks (Mo.) |
14-4 |
189 |
|
16 |
T23 |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
17-5 |
182 |
|
17 |
21 |
Northwestern Ohio |
17-5 |
161 |
|
18 |
T23 |
Grace (Ind.) |
17-5 |
150 |
|
19 |
14 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
17-6 |
149 |
|
20 |
18 |
Warner Pacific (Ore.) |
17-5 |
146 |
|
21 |
19 |
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
15-7 |
143 |
|
22 |
20 |
Northwood (Fla.) |
12-6 |
121 |
|
23 |
22 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
12-6 |
105 |
|
T24 |
25 |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
14-5 |
103 |
|
T24 |
RV |
IU East (Ind.) |
17-6 |
103 |
|
|
Others receiving votes: Union (Ky.) 94; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 41; Dordt (Iowa) 29; Northwest Christian (Ore.) 23; Warner (Fla.) 17; Milligan (Tenn.) 15; Marian (Ind.) 14; Asbury (Ky.) 12; Fisher (Mass.) 6; Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) 6; Johnson & Wales (Fla.) 5; Tabor (Kan.) 5; AIB (Iowa) 3.