NAIA DII Men's Basketball Top 25 Poll No. 3 Announced
COI No. 5, SOU No. 11, CU No. 14, NCU No. 24, WPC RV
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the fifth-straight time, Indiana Wesleyan boasts the No. 1 ranking in the third edition of the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The 2014 national champions posted 10 first-place votes and 371 total points. Indiana Wesleyan maintained its position despite its first loss of the year Jan. 3 to then-unranked Marian (Ind.) – the Wildcats went 15-0 to begin the year.
On the Wildcats’ heels, No. 2 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) slides up five spots from last time. With 359 total points and the remaining four first-place votes, the Eagles are the only remaining undefeated team in the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball ranks. Embry-Riddle next tangles with Warner (Fla.) on Wednesday.
No. 3 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) improves one position with 397 points. No. 4 Bellevue, ranked ninth in the second-regular season installment, checks in with 328 points. No. 5 College of Idaho, with 319 points, falls down three spots.
No. 19 Mount Mercy (Iowa) is the highest ranked newcomer this week. The Mustangs are joined by rookies No. 22 Cincinnati Christian (Ohio), No. 23 Marian and No. 24 Northwest Christian (Ore.).
No. 15 College of the Ozarks (Mo.) was the biggest mover in a positive direction with a 10-spot jump since the Dec. 9 edition. The Bobcats, hosts of the NAIA Division II National Championship, are riding a seven-game win streak into a Jan. 16 contest against Haskell (Kan.).
Conversely, No. 13 Northwood (Fla.) dropped down from No. 3.
Four teams fell out of the Top 25: St. Ambrose (Iowa) (No. 11), Saint Xavier (Ill.) (No. 15), IU East (No. 18) and William Penn (Iowa) (No. 21).
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 the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Three other conferences are tied with a pair of ranked teams.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and independents. The fourth regular-season Top 25 will be announced on Jan. 13. 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 earns its seventh 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… 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 83-consecutive mentions (dating back to Feb. 6, 2008) and right behind is Davenport (Mich.) with 67-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. 6)
|
RANK |
LAST WEEK^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2014-15 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
1 |
Indiana Wesleyan (10) |
15-1 |
371 |
|
2 |
7 |
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (4) |
13-0 |
359 |
|
3 |
4 |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
16-1 |
356 |
|
4 |
9 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
14-2 |
328 |
|
5 |
2 |
College of Idaho |
15-3 |
319 |
|
6 |
6 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
12-3 |
318 |
|
7 |
5 |
Bethel (Ind.) |
14-2 |
316 |
|
8 |
8 |
Midland (Neb.) |
13-3 |
290 |
|
9 |
10 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
13-3 |
265 |
|
10 |
12 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) |
12-4 |
259 |
|
11 |
16 |
Southern Oregon |
14-3 |
253 |
|
12 |
14 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
13-2 |
252 |
|
13 |
3 |
Northwood (Fla.) |
8-3 |
217 |
|
14 |
13 |
Concordia (Ore.) |
12-3 |
213 |
|
15 |
25 |
College of the Ozarks (Mo.) |
11-3 |
205 |
|
16 |
22 |
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
10-6 |
195 |
|
17 |
19 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
7-3 |
154 |
|
18 |
24 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
14-4 |
153 |
|
19 |
RV |
Mount Mercy (Iowa) |
12-3 |
137 |
|
20 |
20 |
Thomas (Ga.) |
11-1 |
132 |
|
21 |
17 |
Robert Morris (Ill.) |
10-6 |
124 |
|
22 |
NR |
Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) |
12-5 |
93 |
|
23 |
NR |
Marian (Ind.) |
11-5 |
87 |
|
24 |
NR |
Northwest Christian (Ore.) |
11-3 |
78 |
|
25 |
23 |
Saint Mary (Kan.) |
10-4 |
77 |
|
|
Others receiving votes: Northwestern Ohio 71; Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 61; Warner (Fla.) 56; William Penn (Iowa) 51; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 44; Union (Ky.) 41; Warner Pacific (Ore.) 24; Jamestown (N.D.) 19; Dordt (Iowa) 15; St. Francis (Ill.) 8; Fisher (Mass.) 5; Grace (Ind.) 4; Indiana East 4.
^ Ranking from 2014-15 Coaches’ Top 25 Poll (Dec. 9, 2014)