KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The final regular-season edition of the 2015 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll has been announced Sunday by the national office. For the ninth-straight week, Rio Grande (Ohio) claims the No. 1 ranking. The postseason edition will be released on Dec. 9.
The 32-team NAIA National Championship Opening Round qualifiers and bracket will be announced Monday at Noon CST. The news will occur with a live selection show seen HERE. The MRPI will also be announced approximately at Noon on NAIA.org.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
• Rio Grande (Ohio) is the unanimous No. 1 pick for the fifth-consecutive installment after gathering 529 points. This marks the sixth overall time the RedStorm claim the unanimous distinction this season as the No. 1-ranked team.
• The RedStorm wrap up the regular-season ranked No. 1 in all nine regular-season polls. That marks the first time since Bethel (Tenn.) rattled through the 2009 campaign on top of all 11 regular-season editions (Bethel tied No. 1 position in the Oct. 13 installment that year).
• The nine-straight No. 1 rankings for Rio Grande is the most in-a-row overall since Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) accomplished a 10-game streak that spanned the end of the 2011 season into the 2012 campaign.
• Rio Grande earned a national championship automatic berth after winning the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) tournament on Saturday. The RedStorm, who stand 18-1-0 on the year, enter the championship on a seven-match win streak.
• Rio Grande landed the No. 1 spot for the 14th occasion in the last 16 polls, dating back to last year.
• No. 2 Oklahoma Wesleyan and No. 6 Science & Arts (Okla.) both own the most wins in the NAIA with 19.
• 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.
• No. 23 Indiana Wesleyan is the lone newcomer. After winning the Crossroads League Tournament, the Wildcats are again mentioned after being last ranked in the 2015 Preseason Top 25 (No. 20).
• The Master’s (Calif.) (No. 24), one week after being a newcomer, drops out of the poll.
• No. 10 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) claims the best improvement with a five-spot hike.
• Conversely, No. 16 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) and No. 17 Corban (Ore.) slip down five positions.
• Sixteen of the 19 conferences, Association of Independent Institutions (AII) and unaffiliated group were represented this week. The Heart of America Athletic Conference and Mid-South Conference field the most representatives in the Top 25 with three each.
• Through 10 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 55, 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 104-straight polls, dating back to the first installment of the 2007 Top 25 Poll (Sept. 5). Rio Grande is next in line with 97-consecutive rankings, followed by Missouri Valley at 64.
• Since 2000, just three teams have spent the entire season ranked No. 1—Bethel in 2009 and Rio Grande in 2004 and 2015.
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. 15)
| RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2015 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Rio Grande (Ohio) (19) |
18-1-0 |
529 |
| 2 |
2 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
19-1-0 |
512 |
| 3 |
5 |
Missouri Valley |
17-2-1 |
490 |
| 4 |
4 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
15-2-2 |
470 |
| 5 |
3 |
Baker (Kan.) |
17-3-1 |
458 |
| 6 |
6 |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
19-2-0 |
446 |
| 7 |
8 |
Biola (Calif.) |
14-4-1 |
422 |
| 8 |
7 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
17-2-1 |
400 |
| 9 |
10 |
Northwestern Ohio |
16-4-0 |
398 |
| 10 |
15 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
17-2-2 |
349 |
| 11 |
9 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
17-3-0 |
346 |
| 11 |
13 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
18-1-1 |
346 |
| 13 |
16 |
Union (Ky.) |
16-1-4 |
325 |
| 14 |
17 |
Marymount (Calif.) |
15-3-1 |
293 |
| 15 |
14 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
15-4-0 |
285 |
| 16 |
11 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
14-5-1 |
283 |
| 17 |
12 |
Corban (Ore.) |
17-2-1 |
273 |
| 18 |
18 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
15-4-0 |
264 |
| 19 |
20 |
Roosevelt (Ill.) |
16-3-2 |
233 |
| 20 |
19 |
Hastings (Neb.) |
14-4-3 |
190 |
| 21 |
23 |
Ashford (Iowa) |
11-5-2 |
167 |
| 22 |
22 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
14-5-1 |
165 |
| 23 |
RV |
Indiana Wesleyan |
15-5-0 |
130 |
| 24 |
21 |
Lyon (Ark.) |
14-4-1 |
122 |
| 25 |
25 |
WVU Tech |
16-2-0 |
106 |
Dropped from rankings: No. 24 The Master’s (Calif.).
Others Receiving Votes: Bellevue (Neb.) 92; The Master's (Calif.) 82; Mobile (Ala.) 72; Bryan (Tenn.) 52; Thomas (Ga.) 42; UC Merced 24; Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) 17; St. Thomas (Fla.) 12; Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 12; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 9; Concordia (Neb.) 7; Great Falls (Mont.) 6.