2015 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 8 (Nov. 10)
By Chad Waller, Director of Communications & Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The eighth regular-season edition of the 2015 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll has been announced Tuesday by the national office. For the eighth-straight week, Rio Grande (Ohio) claims the No. 1 ranking. The ninth regular-season edition will be released on Sunday, Nov. 15 by 4:30 p.m. CST. The 3rd and final installment of the MRPI will be announced Monday, Nov. 16.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
• Rio Grande (Ohio) is the unanimous No. 1 pick for the fourth-consecutive installment after gathering 529 points. This marks the fifth overall time the RedStorm claim the unanimous distinction this season as the No. 1-ranked team.
• The eight-straight No. 1 rankings for Rio Grande is the most in-a-row since Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) accomplished a 10-game streak that spanned the end of the 2011 season into the 2012 campaign.
• Rio Grande, who wrapped up the regular-season clinching the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) regular-season championship, hosts Asbury (Ky.) in the KIAC postseason tournament on Thursday.
• Rio Grande landed the No. 1 spot for the 13th occasion in the last 15 polls, dating back to last year.
• For the fourth-straight week, Oklahoma Wesleyan recorded the second position with 512 points.
• With 493 points, No. 3 Baker (Kan.) claims its highest ranking this year. The Wildcats have now been in the top 10 for eight-straight weeks.
• Defending national champion and fourth-ranked Davenport (Mich.) 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.
• Missouri Valley, who claims the No. 5 position for the third-straight week, has now been in the top 10 in each of the last 14 rankings.
• No. 13 Cumberland (Tenn.) holds the most NAIA wins with an 18-1-0 mark.
• No. 24 The Master’s (Calif.) and No. 25 WVU Tech (W.Va.) are this week’s newcomers. Both clubs were ranked earlier this year.
• Thanks to a nine-match win streak, No. 20 Roosevelt (Ill.) boasts the best improvement with a three-spot hike. With a 14-3-2 mark, the Lakers have already earned an automatic berth – their first in history – to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round.
• No. 10 Northwestern Ohio and No. 22 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) drop down two places for the largest fall within the poll.
• Fifteen of the 19 conferences, Association of Independent Institutions (AII) and unaffiliated group were represented this week. The Golden State Athletic Conference, Heart of America Athletic Conference and Mid-South Conference field the most representatives in the Top 25 with three each.
• Through nine polls this year (including Preseason Top 25), there have been 44 different teams to be ranked at least once – 11 teams have held a ranking in each of these polls.
• Rio Grande boasts the most all-time No. 1 rankings with 54, 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 103-straight polls, dating back to the first installment of the 2007 Top 25 Poll (Sept. 5). Rio Grande is next in line with 96-consecutive rankings, followed by Missouri Valley at 63.
• 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.
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click
here.
2015 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll (Nov. 10)
| RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2015 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Rio Grande (Ohio) (19) |
16-1-0 |
529 |
| 2 |
2 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
17-1-0 |
512 |
| 3 |
4 |
Baker (Kan.) |
16-2-1 |
493 |
| 4 |
3 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
15-2-2 |
469 |
| 5 |
5 |
Missouri Valley |
15-2-1 |
464 |
| 6 |
6 |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
17-2-0 |
441 |
| 7 |
9 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
17-2-0 |
401 |
| 8 |
7 |
Biola (Calif.) |
12-4-1 |
400 |
| 9 |
8 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
17-2-0 |
391 |
| 10 |
8 |
Northwestern Ohio |
14-4-0 |
388 |
| 11 |
11 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
14-4-1 |
355 |
| 12 |
12 |
Corban (Ore.) |
16-2-0 |
334 |
| 13 |
14 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
18-1-0 |
326 |
| 14 |
13 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
14-3-0 |
314 |
| 15 |
15 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
15-2-1 |
284 |
| 16 |
16 |
Union (Ky.) |
14-1-4 |
274 |
| 17 |
18 |
Marymount (Calif.) |
13-3-1 |
258 |
| 18 |
17 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
14-4-0 |
254 |
| 19 |
19 |
Hastings (Neb.) |
14-3-3 |
237 |
| 20 |
T23 |
Roosevelt (Ill.) |
14-3-2 |
186 |
| 21 |
T23 |
Lyon (Ark.) |
14-2-1 |
180 |
| 22 |
20 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
14-5-1 |
167 |
| 23 |
25 |
Ashford (Iowa) |
10-5-1 |
126 |
| 24 |
RV |
The Master's (Calif.) |
13-4-2 |
103 |
| 25 |
RV |
WVU Tech |
15-1-0 |
102 |
Dropped from rankings: No. 21 Thomas (Ga.); No. 22 Mobile (Ala.).
Others Receiving Votes: Mobile (Ala.) 87; Bryan (Tenn.) 74; Indiana Wesleyan 71; St. Thomas (Fla.) 51; Thomas (Ga.) 51; Bellevue (Neb.) 50; Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 14; St. Thomas (Texas) 11; UC Merced 10; Marygrove (Mich.) 9; John Brown (Ark.) 9; Park (Mo.) 4.