KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Saint Xavier (Ill.) is No. 1 for the second-straight edition of the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The fourth regular-season installment will be released on Jan. 12.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dated back to 1991):
• Saint Xavier (Ill.) (17-0) remains in the top spot after receiving 9-of-the-10 possible first-place votes. The Cougars received 250 total points.
• The final first-place vote went to No. 2 Morningside (Iowa) (14-1). The Mustangs finished eight points behind Saint Xavier with 242 points.
• No. 3 Marian (Ind.) (13-3) (225 points), No. 4 College of the Ozarks (Mo.) (13-2) (218 points) and No. 5 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) (13-1) (215 points) round out the top five.
• Nine of the 12 conferences/unaffiliated groups/Association of Independent Institutions are represented in the Top 25.
• The Great Plains Athletic Conference and Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference leads all leagues with five teams represented each.
• No. 23 Kansas Wesleyan (14-3), No. 24 Warner Pacific (Ore.) (10-2) and No. 25 Milligan (Tenn.) (13-3) are the newcomers in this week’s installment.
• Only two undefeated teams remain in the Top 25 – Saint Xavier and No. 12 Southern Oregon (13-0).
• Dakota Wesleyan highlighted the positive movement, as it jumped seven spots.
• Hastings (Neb.) (11-4) had the biggest fall, as it dropped 12 positions to No. 15.
• No. 8 Indian Wesleyan (14-2) has the most No. 1 rankings in NAIA history with 33. Morningside is second with 24.
• Morningside holds the active streak of being ranked in the Top 25 (117). College of the Ozarks’ streak of 110-straight is second.
• College of the Ozarks (2007-08), Morningside (2008-09) and Saint Francis (Ind.) (1999-00) are the only 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.
2015-16 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll (Jan. 5)
| RANK |
LAST WEEK^ |
SCHOOL |
WON |
LOST |
FINAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Saint Xavier (Ill.) |
17 |
0 |
250 |
| 2 |
2 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
14 |
1 |
242 |
| 3 |
7 |
Marian (Ind.) |
13 |
3 |
225 |
| 4 |
5 |
College of the Ozarks (Mo.) |
13 |
2 |
218 |
| 5 |
12 |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
13 |
1 |
215 |
| 6 |
8 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
12 |
3 |
212 |
| 7 |
T10 |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
13 |
1 |
204 |
| 8 |
9 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
14 |
2 |
194 |
| 9 |
6 |
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
12 |
3 |
181 |
| 10 |
14 |
Concordia (Neb.) |
11 |
3 |
179 |
| 11 |
4 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
12 |
3 |
170 |
| 12 |
15 |
Southern Oregon |
13 |
0 |
167 |
| 13 |
T10 |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
15 |
4 |
155 |
| 14 |
12 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
12 |
3 |
149 |
| 15 |
3 |
Hastings (Neb.) |
11 |
4 |
135 |
| 16 |
15 |
Purdue Calumet (Ind.) |
12 |
3 |
123 |
| 17 |
17 |
Bryan (Tenn.) |
14 |
1 |
118 |
| 18 |
18 |
Haskell (Kan.) |
13 |
3 |
109 |
| 19 |
20 |
Huntington (Ind.) |
11 |
5 |
104 |
| 20 |
21 |
Tabor (Kan.) |
10 |
6 |
91 |
| 21 |
19 |
Dickinson State (N.D.) |
11 |
4 |
87 |
| 22 |
25 |
Lawrence Tech (MI) |
10 |
1 |
74 |
| 23 |
RV |
Kansas Wesleyan |
14 |
3 |
70 |
| 24 |
NR |
Warner Pacific (Ore.) |
10 |
2 |
54 |
| 25 |
RV |
Milligan (Tenn.) |
13 |
3 |
48 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Northwestern (Iowa) (No. 22), Oregon Tech (No. 23) and Goshen (Ind.) (No. 24).
Others Receiving Votes: Indiana Northwest 37; Goshen (Ind.) 36; Southeastern (Fla.) 35; Oregon Tech 35; Friends (Kan.) 30; Asbury (Ky.) 18; St. Ambrose (Iowa) 12.
^ Ranking based off the NAIA Women’s Division II Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll No. 2 (Dec. 8)