2015 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 6 (Nov. 3)
By Chad Waller, Director of Communications & Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The seventh regular-season edition of the 2015 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll has been announced Tuesday by the national office. For the seventh-straight week, Rio Grande (Ohio) claims the No. 1 ranking. The eighth regular-season edition will be released on Tuesday, Nov. 10 and 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) collected 529 total points and all 19 first-place votes. This is the third-consecutive week and fourth overall time the RedStorm claim the unanimous distinction this season as the No. 1-ranked team.
• The seven-straight Rio Grande No. 1 rankings is the most in-a-row since Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) accomplished an eight-gamer during the 2012 season.
• The RedStorm are tied with No. 2 Oklahoma Wesleyan, No. 6 Science & Arts (Okla.), No. 10 Columbia (Mo.) and No. 12 Corban (Ore.) for the most wins (16) in the NAIA.
• Rio Grande, who wrapped up the regular-season clinching the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (KIAC) regular-season championship, are gearing up for the KIAC postseason tournament on Nov. 12.
• Rio Grande landed the No. 1 spot for the 12th occasion in the last 14 polls, dating back to last year.
• For the third-straight week, Oklahoma Wesleyan recorded the second position with 507 points.
• Defending national champion and third-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. 4 Baker (Kan.) ties its highest ranking this year and has been in the top 10 for seven-straight weeks.
• The last team in the NAIA to lose its first contest, No. 14 Cumberland (Tenn.) tumbled down eight positions. The Bulldogs tripped up against then-No. 18 Campbellsville (Ky.), 3-0, on Oct. 30. Cumberland had rattled off 15-straight wins to start the year.
• After the upset over Cumberland, No. 9 Campbellsville improves the most within the Top 25 with a nine-spot jump.
• For the first time all year, there are no newcomers to the poll.
• 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 eight polls this year (including Preseason Top 25), there have been 44 different teams to be ranked at least once – 12 teams have held a ranking in each of these polls.
• Rio Grande boasts the most all-time No. 1 rankings with 53, 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 102-straight polls, dating back to the first installment of the 2007 Top 25 Poll (Sept. 5). Rio Grande is next in line with 95-consecutive rankings, followed by Missouri Valley at 62.
• 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. 3)
| 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 |
16-1-0 |
507 |
| 3 |
3 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
15-1-2 |
500 |
| 4 |
7 |
Baker (Kan.) |
15-2-1 |
478 |
| 5 |
5 |
Missouri Valley |
14-2-1 |
452 |
| 6 |
10 |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
16-2-0 |
406 |
| 7 |
11 |
Biola (Calif.) |
12-4-1 |
390 |
| 8 |
4 |
Northwestern Ohio |
13-4-0 |
388 |
| 9 |
18 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
14-2-0 |
383 |
| 10 |
12 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
16-2-0 |
379 |
| 11 |
9 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
13-4-1 |
356 |
| 12 |
15 |
Corban (Ore.) |
16-2-0 |
331 |
| 13 |
13 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
14-3-0 |
329 |
| 14 |
6 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
15-1-0 |
325 |
| 15 |
8 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
15-2-1 |
307 |
| 16 |
14 |
Union (Ky.) |
14-1-3 |
295 |
| 17 |
17 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
13-4-0 |
257 |
| 18 |
20 |
Marymount (Calif.) |
12-3-1 |
242 |
| 19 |
19 |
Hastings (Neb.) |
13-3-2 |
226 |
| 20 |
21 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
13-4-1 |
203 |
| 21 |
16 |
Thomas (Ga.) |
13-4-0 |
191 |
| 22 |
23 |
Mobile (Ala.) |
11-5-2 |
150 |
| 23 |
25 |
Roosevelt (Ill.) |
13-3-2 |
146 |
| 23 |
22 |
Lyon (Ark.) |
13-2-1 |
146 |
| 25 |
24 |
Ashford (Iowa) |
9-5-1 |
111 |
Dropped from rankings: None
Others Receiving Votes: The Master's (Calif.) 88; WVU Tech 79; Bryan (Tenn.) 75; Indiana Wesleyan 38; Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 32; Bellevue (Neb.) 21; St. Thomas (Texas) 15; Westmont (Calif.) 10; Marygrove (Mich.) 9; Midland (Neb.) 8; UC Merced 7; John Brown (Ark.) 3.