2015 Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 1 (Dec. 1)
By Chad Waller, Director of Communications and Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Indiana Wesleyan moves up one spot to No. 1 in the first regular-season edition of the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The second-regular season edition will be released on Dec. 8.
Top 25 highlights (historical information dates back to 1991):
• With six first-place votes and 306 points, Indiana Wesleyan is back in the No. 1 spot. The Wildcats held the No. 1 position for 13-straight weeks that spanned polls from the end of the 2013-14 season to the final regular-season installment of 2014-15. The final top spot in that stretch was March 4, 2015.
• Indiana Wesleyan lands its 16th all-time No. 1 ranking, which is good for third on the all-time list.
• The Wildcats started the year with a 6-0 mark. Three of those victories include triumphs over then-No. 1 Cornerstone (Mich.), No. 7 Union (Ky.) and No. 10 Indiana East.
• Indiana Wesleyan is in the Top 25 for the 46th-straight week, dating back to Jan. 30, 2012.
• Preseason No. 1-ranked Cornerstone (Mich.) drops down to No. 2 with 300 total points. The Golden Eagles captured four first-place nods.
• No. 3 Davenport (Mich.) and No. 4 St. Francis (Ill.) each collected one first-place vote.
• Davenport, No. 5 Bethel (Ind.) and No. 10 Marian (Ind.) hold the NAIA lead with nine victories.
• No. 5 Bethel boasts the biggest improvement within the Top 25 vaulting up 17 spots from the Preseason poll. The Pilots (9-0) rank in the top 10 statistically in eight categories, including No. 2 in field goal percentage defense (.369).
• Nine programs jumped into the Top 25 after not being ranked in the 2015 preseason poll: No. 7 Oregon Tech, No. 10 Marian, No. 12 College of the Ozarks (Mo.), No. 13 Southern Oregon, No. 15 Waldorf (Iowa), No. 22 WVU Tech (W.Va.), No. 23 Hastings (Neb.), No. 24 Rochester (Mich.) and No. 25 Cal Maritime.
• Bethel has the most No. 1 mentions with 35. Former-member Embry Riddle (Fla.) is second with 21.
• Davenport holds the active streak of being consecutively ranked with 78-straight mentions.
• Jamestown (N.D.) (2003-04) and Embry Riddle (2000-01) are the only Division II teams to go the entire season ranked No. 1.
Poll Methodology:
• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions.
• 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 considered a low ratings) 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 teams appears on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click
here.
| RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2015 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
2 |
Indiana Wesleyan (6) |
6-1 |
306 |
| 2 |
1 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) (4) |
8-1 |
300 |
| 3 |
3 |
Davenport (Mich.) (1) |
9-1 |
297 |
| 4 |
11 |
St. Francis (Ill.) (1) |
6-0 |
280 |
| 5 |
22 |
Bethel (Ind.) |
9-0 |
262 |
| 6 |
7 |
Union (Ky.) |
9-3 |
252 |
| 7 |
RV |
Oregon Tech |
7-0 |
248 |
| 8 |
24 |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
7-2 |
245 |
| 9 |
5 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
4-1 |
243 |
| 10 |
NR |
Marian (Ind.) |
9-0 |
207 |
| 11 |
9 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
6-2 |
202 |
| 12 |
RV |
College of the Ozarks (Mo.) |
7-1 |
201 |
| 13 |
NR |
Southern Oregon |
7-2 |
186 |
| 14 |
23 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
5-1 |
184 |
| 15 |
NR |
Waldorf (Iowa) |
4-1 |
175 |
| 16 |
8 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
7-4 |
145 |
| 17 |
25 |
Warner (Fla.) |
4-1 |
133 |
| 18 |
21 |
Robert Morris (Ill.) |
6-2 |
122 |
| 19 |
4 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
5-3 |
120 |
| 20 |
6 |
College of Idaho |
5-4 |
117 |
| 21 |
20 |
Tabor (Kan.) |
9-2 |
114 |
| 22 |
NR |
WVU Tech |
6-3 |
111 |
| 23 |
NR |
Hastings (Neb.) |
6-2 |
83 |
| 24 |
NR |
Rochester (Mich.) |
7-0 |
76 |
| 25 |
RV |
Cal Maritime |
6-3 |
70 |
Dropped from the Top 25: No. 10 Indiana East; No. 12 Northwest Christian (Ore.); No. 13 Dordt (Iowa); No. 14 Grace (Ind.); No. 15 Jamestown (N.D.); No. 16 St. Thomas (Fla.); No. 17 Northwestern Ohio; No. 18 Warner Pacific (Ore.); No. 19 Midland (Neb.).
Others receiving votes: Valley City State (N.D.) 56; Grace (Ind.) 38; Concordia (Neb.) 32;
Corban (Ore.) 20; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 17; Jamestown (N.D.) 17; Indiana East 16; Milligan (Tenn.) 15; Southwestern (Kan.) 14; Aquinas (Mich.) 13; Goshen (Ind.) 12; St. Thomas (Fla.) 7.