2014 - 15 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll – No. 7
COI No. 5, CU No. 12, WPC No. 16, SOU No.17 NCU RV
By Chad Waller, Director of Communications and Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the ninth-straight time, Indiana Wesleyan owns the No. 1 position in the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The Wildcats’ streak on top of the perch is the longest for a NAIA program since Oklahoma Wesleyan’s run of nine-consecutive to begin the 2009-10 season. Indiana Wesleyan captured 10 first-place votes and 371 total points this week.
After a three-point loss to then-No. 8 Bethel (Ind.) on Jan. 24, Indiana Wesleyan has rebounded with close wins over then-No. 18 Grace (Ind.) on Jan. 27 and then-No. 13 Saint Francis (Ind.) on Jan. 31. With a 22-2 mark, the Wildcats own a one-game lead in the Crossroads League standings. In spite of some closely-contested games of late, Indiana Wesleyan still stands No. 3 in the NAIA in scoring margin (16.8) and is also sixth in field goal percentage (.505).
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) locks down the No. 2 spot for the fifth-straight time. With two first-place nods and 361 points, the Eagles are the only one-loss team in NAIA Division II (21-1). After a contest with Ave Maria (Fla.) Wednesday, Embry-Riddle hosts No. 24 Warner (Fla.) Saturday.
Moving up two spots, No. 3 Davenport (Mich.) checks in with the remaining two first-place votes and 353 points. The No. 3 ranking ties for the program’s highest mark of the year. The Panthers face No. 21 Northwestern Ohio Saturday after a date with Lawrence Tech (Mich.) Wednesday.
Shifting two positions are both No. 4 Bellevue (Neb.) and No. 5 College of Idaho. The Bruins make a positive movement, while College of Idaho goes the opposite direction. Bellevue ties for its highest ranking of the season.
No. 16 Warner Pacific (Ore.), who improved four positions, is the biggest mover this week on the upward swing. The Knights have won seven out of their last eight games, including an 81-62 victory over then-No. 3 College of Idaho on Jan. 31.
No. 17 Southern Oregon, a team to go 2-2 in its last four outings, dropped five spots for the worst decline.
No. 23 Union (Ky.), No. 24 Warner and No. 25 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) are in the newcomer’s group this week. All three teams have been ranked at least one previous time during the 2014-15 campaign.
The follow clubs fell out of the Top 25: Northwood (Fla.) (No. 22), Southeastern (Fla.) (No. 23) and Jamestown (N.D.) tie-No. 24).
Ten of the 13 conferences/Association of Independent Institutions/unaffiliated groups are represented throughout the Top 25, led by four teams each from the Cascade Collegiate Conference, Crossroads League and Great Plains Athletic Conference. The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference and Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference is next with three Top 25 programs.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and independents. The eighth regular-season Top 25 will be announced on Feb. 10. For more information on the polls, click here.
NOTES (All information dates back to 1991 – 1992 season, which is the start of Division II) By falling out of the Top 25 this week, Northwood (Fla.) has the NAIA’s longest active streak of Top 25 rankings stopped at 86-consecutive (dating back to Feb. 6, 2008)… With three teams receiving at least one first-place vote this week, this marks the third time this year (out of eight polls) this has occurred… Top-ranked Indiana Wesleyan is looking to become the first Division II program since Jamestown (N.D.) in 2003-04 to claim the No. 1 ranking all season long… In the Jan. 20 edition, No. 25 Jamestown (N.D.) gave the North Star Athletic Association its first ranked team this year… Through eight polls (including Preseason Top 25), 43 different teams have been ranked this season – there were 45 different programs last year… Fifteen teams have held a position in all eight polls this year… Indiana Wesleyan earns its 11th overall No. 1 ranking in school history… In the Dec. 2 release, then-No. 13 Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) snapped a streak of 27-straight polls ranked within the top-five dating back to the start of 2012-13 season… Bethel’s (Ind.) 35 all-time No. 1 mentions tops the list, followed by 21 by Embry-Riddle (Fla.), 15 by Oregon Tech and 14 by former Division II member MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)… Davenport (Mich.) now holds the active streak of being consecutively ranked with 71-straight mentions… There have been 36 teams to be ranked No. 1 all-time… Jamestown and Embry-Riddle are the only Division II programs to last the entire season ranked in the No. 1 position – Jamestown did it during the 2003-04 campaign (11 polls) and Embry-Riddle’s run was during 2000-01 (nine polls).
2014 – 15 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – (Feb. 3)
|
RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2014-15 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
1 |
Indiana Wesleyan (10) |
22-2 |
371 |
|
2 |
2 |
Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (2) |
21-1 |
361 |
|
3 |
5 |
Davenport (Mich.) (2) |
21-3 |
353 |
|
4 |
6 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
20-3 |
324 |
|
5 |
3 |
College of Idaho |
21-4 |
323 |
|
6 |
4 |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
22-3 |
318 |
|
7 |
7 |
Bethel (Ind.) |
21-3 |
315 |
|
8 |
9 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) |
19-5 |
286 |
|
9 |
8 |
Midland (Neb.) |
19-5 |
276 |
|
10 |
10 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
19-3 |
269 |
|
11 |
14 |
Mount Mercy (Iowa) |
19-3 |
243 |
|
12 |
11 |
Concordia (Ore.) |
19-4 |
239 |
|
13 |
13 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
18-6 |
231 |
|
14 |
16 |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
19-5 |
213 |
|
15 |
15 |
College of the Ozarks (Mo.) |
16-5 |
209 |
|
16 |
20 |
Warner Pacific (Ore.) |
19-5 |
191 |
|
17 |
12 |
Southern Oregon |
19-5 |
166 |
|
18 |
19 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
18-6 |
165 |
|
19 |
21 |
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
17-7 |
149 |
|
20 |
18 |
Grace (Ind.) |
18-6 |
143 |
|
21 |
17 |
Northwestern Ohio |
18-6 |
134 |
|
22 |
T24 |
Indiana East |
19-6 |
125 |
|
23 |
RV |
Union (Ky.) |
19-4 |
120 |
|
24 |
RV |
Warner (Fla.) |
16-4 |
80 |
|
25 |
RV |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
17-7 |
79 |
|
|
Others receiving votes: Jamestown (N.D.) 68; Johnson & Wales (Fla.) 58; Saint Mary (Kan.) 37; Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) 18; Northwood (Fla.) 18; Dordt (Iowa) 17; Fisher (Mass.) 12; Northwest Christian (Ore.) 9; Brescia (Ky.) 8; Milligan (Tenn.) 5; Southeastern (Fla.) 4; AIB (Iowa) 3.