2015 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 5 (Oct. 20)
By Chad Waller, Director of Communications & Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The fifth regular-season edition of the 2015 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll has been announced Tuesday by the national office. For the fifth-straight week, Rio Grande (Ohio) claims the No. 1 ranking. The sixth regular-season edition will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 27 and the 2nd installment of the MRPI will be announced Wednesday.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
• For the first time in three weeks, Rio Grande (Ohio) gathered all first-place votes (19). This No. 1 ranking for the RedStorm is their fifth-straight. After dropping their first contest on Oct. 3 after an 11-0-0 start, the RedStorm have won the last three matches by a 14-1 margin. The next opponent is undefeated No. 24 WVU Tech (W.Va.) on Wednesday.
• Rio Grande, No. 12 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) and No. 15 (tie) Columbia (Mo.) are tied for the NAIA lead with 14 victories. Overall, there are 36 programs with at least 10 wins.
• No. 2 Oklahoma Wesleyan and defending national champion No. 3 Davenport (Mich.) swap places from last week. The Eagles are enjoying their highest spot in school history.
• Rio Grande landed the No. 1 spot for the 10th occasion in the last 12 polls, dating back to last year.
• Davenport is trying to become the first team to be ranked preseason No. 1 and win the national championship in the same season since Lindsey Wilson did it in 2001.
• There are still three teams with an undefeated overall record. In the last week, Park (Mo.) dropped its first match. After two-straight losses, the Pirates fell out of the Top 25 after a No. 15 mark last week.
• Thanks to 11-straight victories, including two over Top 25 opponents, No. 15 (tie) Columbia improves six spots for the best positive movement.
• With a 1-0 loss to then-unranked Southeastern (Fla.) on Oct. 17, No. 17 Thomas (Ga.) dropped 10 spots for the worst fall.
• No. 18 Southeastern, No. 23 Biola (Calif.) and No. 25 Mobile (Ala.) are newcomers this week. With four-straight wins, the Fire are ranked for the first time in school history. Mobile was mentioned in the Top 25 earlier this year and Biola is in the poll for the first time since 2014.
• Sixteen of the 19 conferences, Association of Independent Institutions (AII) and unaffiliated group were represented this week. The Heart of America Athletic Conference fields the most representatives in the Top 25 with three total: No. 4 Baker (Kan.), No. 7 Missouri Valley and No. 13 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.). Seven other leagues landed a pair of ranked programs.
• Through six polls this year (including Preseason Top 25), there have been 42 different teams to be ranked at least once – 13 teams have held a ranking in each of these polls.
• Rio Grande boasts the most all-time No. 1 rankings with 51, followed by Lindsey Wilson with 48, Bethel (Tenn.) with 11 and Hastings with 10. Overall, 21 different teams have claimed the No. 1 spot in the poll.
• Rio Grande has garnered at least one top ranking in each of the past four seasons and five out of the last six overall.
• Lindsey Wilson is the longest consecutively-ranked active school at 100-straight polls, dating back to the first installment of the 2007 Top 25 Poll (Sept. 5). Rio Grande is next in line with 93-consecutive rankings, followed by Missouri Valley at 60.
• Since 2000, just two teams have spent the entire season ranked No. 1—Bethel in 2009 and Rio Grande in 2004.
Poll Methodology:
• The poll was voted upon by a panel of 19 head coaches representing each of the conferences, independents and unaffiliated groups.
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first place vote, 29 for second place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is a low rating) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the team appears on.
• Teams who receive only one point in the ballot will not be listed in the “Receiving Votes” category.
• The Modified Ratings Percentage Index (MRPI) is a separate ranking conducted on Sept. 30, Oct. 21 and Nov. 16. The MRPI—first adopted in 2010—will select the at-large national championship qualifying teams and seed the 32-team national championship opening round field. Rio Grande (Ohio) topped the first MRPI on Sept. 30.
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click
here.
2015 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll (Oct. 20)
| RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2015 RECORD |
FINAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Rio Grande (Ohio) (19) |
14-1-0 |
529 |
| 2 |
3 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
12-1-0 |
497 |
| 3 |
2 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
11-1-2 |
496 |
| 4 |
4 |
Baker (Kan.) |
13-1-1 |
483 |
| 5 |
5 |
Northwestern Ohio |
11-2-0 |
469 |
| 6 |
6 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
11-2-0 |
439 |
| 7 |
8 |
Missouri Valley |
12-2-0 |
424 |
| 8 |
9 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
13-0-0 |
415 |
| 9 |
10 |
Corban (Ore.) |
13-1-0 |
381 |
| 10 |
T11 |
Union (Ky.) |
12-0-3 |
378 |
| 11 |
T11 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
12-3-1 |
355 |
| 12 |
14 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
14-1-0 |
333 |
| 13 |
16 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
11-3-1 |
294 |
| 14 |
19 |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
12-2-0 |
267 |
| T15 |
21 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
14-2-0 |
257 |
| T15 |
13 |
Ashford (Iowa) |
8-4-1 |
257 |
| 17 |
7 |
Thomas (Ga.) |
12-3-0 |
243 |
| 18 |
RV |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
9-4-0 |
235 |
| 19 |
20 |
Marymount (Calif.) |
9-3-1 |
233 |
| 20 |
18 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
8-2-4 |
221 |
| 21 |
22 |
Hastings (Neb.) |
9-3-2 |
182 |
| 22 |
23 |
Lyon (Ark.) |
11-1-1 |
177 |
| 23 |
RV |
Biola (Calif.) |
10-3-1 |
161 |
| 24 |
25 |
WVU Tech |
13-0-0 |
118 |
| 25 |
RV |
Mobile (Ala.) |
8-4-2 |
114 |
Dropped from rankings: No. 15 Park (Mo.), No. 17 The Master’s (Calif.), No. 24 Martin Methodist (Tenn.).
Others Receiving Votes: The Master's (Calif.) 100; Park (Mo.) 86; Roosevelt (Ill.) 76 Georgia Gwinnett 52; Central Methodist (Mo.) 43; Houston-Victoria (Texas) 27; Bethel (Tenn.) 26; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 18; Campbellsville (Ky.) 17; Grace (Ind.) 9; Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 5; Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 3.