2016 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Oct. 4
CRB No. 14, OIT RV
By Chad Waller, Director of Communications & Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the third-straight week, Oklahoma Wesleyan is ranked No. 1 in the third regular-season edition of the NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The fourth regular-season installment will be announced Oct. 11
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
• No. 1 Oklahoma Wesleyan recorded 18-of-19 first-place votes and a total of 529 points. The 7-0-1 Eagles currently hold a 23-match (21-0-2) undefeated streak, which is second longest in the NAIA.
• Oklahoma Wesleyan, who has taken down four Top 25 opponents this season, hosts Southwestern (Kan.) Wednesday prior to a Saturday road tilt at Saint Mary (Kan.).
• Through eight matches, Oklahoma Wesleyan has yielded just one goal – in the 1-1 draw to John Brown (Ark.) on Sept. 14. The offense has out-scored the opponents by a 20-1 margin. Goalkeeper Luka Stojanvoic and the defense rank No. 1 in the NAIA in goals against per game 0.130.
• No. 2 Rio Grande (Ohio) captured the remaining first-place vote to go along with 511 points. The 9-1-0 RedStorm have now claimed at least one first-place nod in each of the last 14 polls.
• With the most NAIA victories (11), No. 3 Hastings (Neb.) slides up one position. No. 4 Thomas (Ga.) improves two spots and fifth-ranked Davenport (Mich.) stays in the same slot.
• With a 7-0-01 record this year, No. 8 Campbellsville (Ky.) boasts an NAIA-best 24-match (21-0-3) undefeated streak.
• No. 24 Spring Arbor (Mich.) and No. 25 William Carey (Miss.) are this week’s newcomers. Spring Arbor last held a ranking on Sept. 29, 2015 (No. 24), while William Carey’s last mention occurred Oct. 28, 2014 (No. 25).
• One of three teams in the NAIA with 10-or-more wins, No. 10 Union (Ky.) slides into the top 10 for the first time since Oct. 20, 2015.
• No. 7 Baker (Kan.) – one of three teams to improve three spots – holds it highest ranking of 2016. The Wildcats knocked off then-No. 3 Mid-America Nazarene (Kan.) by a 3-0 count on Sept. 27.
• The loss pushed No. 9 MidAmerica Nazarene the farthest down inside the Top 25 – a poll-high six spots.
• Fifteen of the 19 conferences are represented this week. The Appalachian Athletic Conference, Heart of America Athletic Conference and Mid-South Conference each send three teams each into the Top 25, the most of any conference.
• Overall, seven leagues send multiple teams into the Top 25.
• Rio Grande leads the all-time list of No. 1 rankings with 57, followed by 48 top mentions by Lindsey Wilson.
• With the addition of Oklahoma Wesleyan to the list of all-time No. 1-ranked teams, 21 different teams have now been ranked No. 1 at some point in program history for the NAIA.
• Rio Grande is trying to become the first time to be ranked preseason No. 1 and win the national championship in the same season since Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) did it in 2001.
• This year, there have been 35 different teams to be ranked at least once – 15 teams have appeared on every poll (4 total).
• Lindsey Wilson is the longest consecutively-ranked active school at 99-straight polls, dating back to the first installment of the 2007 Top 25 Poll (Sept. 5) and Rio Grande is next in line with 92-consecutive rankings.
• With a drop out of the Top 25 in the Sept. 27 edition, Missouri Valley snapped a streak of 57-straight rankings, which was the third-longest streak at the time.
Poll Methodology
• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, Association of Independent Institutions 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 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 men’s soccer ratings calendar, click here.
2016 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll - No. 3 (Oct. 4)
| RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2016 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan (18) |
7-0-1 |
529 |
| 2 |
2 |
Rio Grande (Ohio) (1) |
9-1-0 |
511 |
| 3 |
4 |
Hastings (Neb.) |
11-0-0 |
493 |
| 4 |
6 |
Thomas (Ga.) |
10-0-1 |
468 |
| 5 |
5 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
7-1-2 |
463 |
| 6 |
7 |
Northwestern Ohio |
6-1-3 |
444 |
| 7 |
10 |
Baker (Kan.) |
7-2-2 |
429 |
| 8 |
8 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
7-0-1 |
411 |
| 9 |
3 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
7-2-1 |
390 |
| 10 |
11 |
Union (Ky.) |
10-2-0 |
374 |
| 11 |
12 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
8-1-1 |
346 |
| 12 |
9 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
7-2-0 |
342 |
| 13 |
13 |
Bryan (Tenn.) |
9-0-1 |
335 |
| 14 |
14 |
Corban (Ore.) |
9-1-0 |
312 |
| 15 |
16 |
John Brown (Ark.) |
7-1-1 |
290 |
| 16 |
17 |
WVU Tech |
9-1-1 |
265 |
| 17 |
18 |
Marymount (Calif.) |
6-2-1 |
258 |
| 18 |
15 |
Biola (Calif.) |
7-3-0 |
253 |
| 19 |
21 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
5-3-1 |
213 |
| 20 |
23 |
Reinhardt (Ga.) |
9-1-0 |
193 |
| 21 |
20 |
Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) |
5-3-0 |
177 |
| 22 |
25 |
Midland (Neb.) |
9-1-1 |
165 |
| 23 |
22 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
7-3-1 |
135 |
| 24 |
RV |
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
8-2-2 |
106 |
| 25 |
RV |
William Carey (Miss.) |
6-1-1 |
98 |
Dropped from rankings: No. 19 Indiana Wesleyan; No. 24 Rocky Mountain (Mont.)
Others Receiving Votes: Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 97; The Master's (Calif.) 81; Madonna (Mich.) 70; Oregon Tech 40; Menlo (Calif.) 37; Central Methodist (Mo.) 29; Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 25; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 18; Columbia (Mo.) 14; Tennessee Wesleyan 8; Johnson & Wales (Fla.) 4.