2015-16 Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Final (March 2)
By Scott Barker, Communications and Sports Information Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Saint Francis (Ind.) is No. 1 in the final regular-season edition of the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday. The postseason installment will be released on March 23.
Top 25 Highlights (Historical information dates back to 1991):
• Saint Francis (Ind.) (29-4) is in the top spot for the first time since the 2010-11 Preseason Poll. The Cougars received all 12 first-place votes and a total of 312 points. This marks the eighth-straight poll that the Cougars are in the top 5.
• No. 2 Davenport (Mich.) (29-4) (297 points) is in the top five for the 12th-straight poll dating back to the 2015 Postseason Poll.
• No. 3 St. Francis (Ill.) (28-3) (290 points), No. 4 Briar Cliff (Iowa) (30-3) (289 points) and No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan (28-5) (270 points) round out the top five.
• No. 20 Robert Morris (Ill.) (24-9) is the lone newcomer this week.
• No. 13 Bethel (Ind.) (23-9) has the most all-time No. 1 mentions with 35. Former-member Embry-Riddle (Fla.) is second with 21.
• There have been 43 teams ranked this year.
• Five teams have been ranked No. 1 - Cornerstone (Mich.) (Oct. 27), Indiana Wesleyan (Dec. 1, Dec. 8 and Jan. 5) Davenport (Jan. 12, Jan. 19, Jan. 26, Feb. 2, Feb. 9 and Feb. 16), St. Francis (Feb. 23) and Saint Francis (March 2).
• Davenport holds the longest active streak of being consecutively ranked with 88-straight mentions, dating back to Feb. 22, 2010.
• Jamestown (N.D.) (2003-04) and Embry-Riddle (2000-01) are the only Division II teams to go the entire season ranked No. 1.
• No. 14 Mount Mercy (Iowa) (25-7) finds itself in the top 15 for the first time since the 2015-16 Preseason Poll.
• Mount Mercy moved up three spots highlighting the positive movement. No. 7 Union (Ky.) (28-6) and No. 18 Nebraska Wesleyan (22-7) each moved up two spots.
• No. 17 Southern Oregon (24-8) fell three positions, which was the biggest drop in the Top 25.
• Twelve teams have been ranked in every poll this year.
• Davenport and Indiana Wesleyan are the only teams to be ranked inside the top 5 in each poll this year.
• Eleven of the twelve conference/Association of Independent Institutions are represented in the Top 25.
• Five conferences have three teams represented in the Top 25 – Crossroads League, Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference, Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, Great Plains Athletic Conference and Cascade Collegiate Conference.
• Indiana Wesleyan has been ranked in the Top 25 for 56-straight weeks, dating back to Jan. 30, 2012.
• For more information on NAIA Men’s DII Basketball, click
here.
• For the complete ratings calendar, click
here.
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 Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll - Final (March 2)
| RANK |
LAST WEEK^ |
SCHOOL (1st place votes) |
WON |
LOST |
FINAL POINTS |
| 1 |
2 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) (12) |
29 |
4 |
312 |
| 2 |
3 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
29 |
4 |
297 |
| 3 |
1 |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
28 |
3 |
290 |
| 4 |
4 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
30 |
3 |
289 |
| 5 |
5 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
28 |
5 |
270 |
| 6 |
6 |
Tabor (Kan.) |
30 |
3 |
264 |
| 7 |
9 |
Union (Ky.) |
28 |
6 |
241 |
| 8 |
8 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) |
26 |
6 |
237 |
| 9 |
7 |
Keiser (Fla.) |
28 |
4 |
234 |
| 10 |
10 |
Warner (Fla.) |
23 |
6 |
228 |
| 11 |
12 |
Northwest Christian (Ore.) |
27 |
6 |
215 |
| 12 |
11 |
Tennessee Wesleyan |
28 |
3 |
202 |
| 13 |
13 |
Bethel (Ind.) |
23 |
9 |
186 |
| 14 |
17 |
Mount Mercy (Iowa) |
25 |
7 |
174 |
| 15 |
16 |
Warner Pacific (Ore.) |
23 |
9 |
169 |
| 16 |
15 |
Indiana Tech |
23 |
9 |
153 |
| 17 |
14 |
Southern Oregon |
24 |
8 |
150 |
| 18 |
20 |
Nebraska Wesleyan |
22 |
7 |
148 |
| 19 |
18 |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
22 |
10 |
126 |
| 20 |
NR |
Robert Morris (Ill.) |
24 |
9 |
104 |
| 21 |
19 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
18 |
9 |
103 |
| 22 |
23 |
Southwestern (Kan.) |
26 |
7 |
99 |
| 23 |
21 |
Valley City State (N.D.) |
21 |
10 |
96 |
| 23 |
24 |
Cal Maritime |
22 |
9 |
96 |
| 25 |
25 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
20 |
11 |
47 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Rochester (Mich.) (No. 22)
Others Receiving Votes: Rochester (Mich.) 44;
Oregon Tech 41; Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) 34; Goshen (Ind.) 23; St. Thomas (Fla.) 21; IU East (Ind.) 19; York (Neb.) 18; Aquinas (Mich.) 14; Dakota State (S.D.) 12; Saint Xavier (Ill.) 3; College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 3.
^ Ranking based off the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll No. 10 (Feb. 23)