2015 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 2 (Sept. 29)
CRB No. 11, RMC 15
By Chad Waller, Director of Communications & Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The second regular-season edition of the 2015 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll has been announced Tuesday by the national office. Rio Grande (Ohio) lands the No. 1 position this week behind a perfect 10-0-0 record. The third regular-season edition will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 6. The first installment of the Modified Ratings Percentage Index (MRPI) will be announced on Wednesday, Sept. 30.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
• With all 17 first-place votes, Rio Grande (Ohio) is the No. 1-ranked program for the second-straight time and seventh occasion in the last nine polls, dating back to last year.
• The RedStorm claim their 48th all-time No. 1 position, which now ties Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) for the most since 2000.
• No. 2 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. Currently, the Panthers hold 450 points with a 6-1-1 record.
• No. 3 Vanguard (Calif.) is in the top five for the first time in over four years – the Lions were No. 4 in the 2011 Preseason Top 25 (Aug. 16).
• The 3-1 win over then-No. 6 Lindsey Wilson in the NAIA Match of the Week on Sept. 26 handed Rio Grande its 10th victory of the season. The RedStorm are the first team to hit the 10-win threshold.
• There are 10 teams with an undefeated overall record.
• Rio Grande (10-0-0) holds the longest active win streak at 10-straight victories. Corban (Ore.), Mount Mercy (Iowa) (9-2-0) and Rocky Mountain (Mont.) are next in line with a nine-gamer.
• No. 14 Ashford (Iowa) and No. 15 Rocky Mountain boast the best positive movement within the poll this week with a six-spot spike.
• No. 17 Mobile (Ala.) drops the farthest, tumbling down 10 positions. The Rams have gone 1-3 in their last four matches.
• No. 23 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) and No. 25 Union (Ky.) are this week’s newcomers. The Tigers landed a No. 25 preseason position (Aug. 18). Union was nationally ranked three times during the 2014 campaign, with the most recent coming on Oct. 14 (No. 20).
• Seventeen of the 19 conferences, Association of Independent Institutions (AII) and unaffiliated group were represented this week. The Heart of America Athletic Conference fields the most representatives in the Top 25 with three total: No. 5 Baker (Kan.), No. 9 Missouri Valley and No. 19 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.). Six other leagues landed a pair of ranked programs.
• Through three polls this year (including Preseason Top 25), there have been 34 different teams to be ranked at least once – 16 teams have held a ranking in each of these polls.
• Rio Grande and Lindsey Wilson boast the most all-time No. 1 rankings with 48, followed by Bethel (Tenn.) with 11 and Hastings (Neb.) 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 97-straight polls, dating back to the first installment of the 2007 Top 25 Poll (Sept. 5). Rio Grande is next in line with 90-consecutive rankings, followed by Missouri Valley at 57.
• 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 (Sept. 29)
|
RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2015 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
|
1 |
1 |
Rio Grande (Ohio) (17) |
10-0-0 |
467 |
|
2 |
2 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
6-1-1 |
450 |
|
3 |
8 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
8-1-0 |
430 |
|
4 |
3 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
6-1-0 |
410 |
|
5 |
10 |
Baker (Kan.) |
9-1-1 |
390 |
|
6 |
9 |
Northwestern Ohio |
5-2-0 |
388 |
|
7 |
6 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
9-2-0 |
386 |
|
8 |
4 |
Thomas (Ga.) |
7-2-0 |
373 |
|
9 |
5 |
Missouri Valley |
6-2-0 |
345 |
|
10 |
13 |
Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) |
6-2-1 |
338 |
|
11 |
14 |
Corban (Ore.) |
9-0-0 |
325 |
|
12 |
12 |
Marymount (Calif.) |
6-2-1 |
293 |
|
13 |
11 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
6-2-2 |
261 |
|
14 |
20 |
Ashford (Iowa) |
6-3-1 |
255 |
|
15 |
21 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
9-0-0 |
241 |
|
16 |
T18 |
Lyon (Ark.) |
7-0-1 |
235 |
|
17 |
7 |
Mobile (Ala.) |
6-4-0 |
230 |
|
18 |
16 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
6-2-1 |
228 |
|
19 |
17 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
6-3-1 |
219 |
|
20 |
24 |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
7-2-0 |
148 |
|
21 |
15 |
Georgia Gwinnett |
5-3-3 |
131 |
|
22 |
T18 |
Florida Memorial |
6-4-0 |
127 |
|
23 |
RV |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
6-2-1 |
112 |
|
24 |
23 |
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
6-3-1 |
110 |
|
25 |
RV |
Union (Ky.) |
7-0-2 |
104 |
Dropped from rankings: No. 22 Holy Cross (Ind.); No. 25 Grand View (Iowa).
Others Receiving Votes: Park (Mo.) 93; Hastings (Neb.) 76; Cumberland (Tenn.) 57; Madonna (Mich.) 52; Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 45; Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 28; Southwest (N.M.) 17; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 16; Campbellsville (Ky.) 15; Northwestern (Iowa) 10; WVU Tech 9; Columbia (Mo.) 8; William Carey (Miss.) 7; Roosevelt (Ill.) 5; Menlo (Calif.) 3.