2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 3
LCSC No 2. CI RV
By Alan Grosbach, Manager of Communications and Sports Information
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the second time in program history, Georgia Gwinnett claims the No. 1 ranking in the NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The fourth regular-season installment will be released April 5.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000)
• Georgia Gwinnett, which claimed 14 of the 18 possible first-place votes and 495 total points, sits atop the Coaches’ Poll for the first time since April 28, 2015.
• The Grizzlies (34-1) boast an NAIA-best 34 wins this season, including a current run of nine-straight victories.
• Georgia Gwinnett’s last five victories came against ranked opponents, defeating then-No. 1 Faulkner (Ala.), 3-1, on March 22, and sweeping a four-game series against then-No. 11 Keiser (Fla.) March 25 – 26.
• Defending World Series champion Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) holds the No. 2 ranking for a third-straight poll. The Warriors have won 10 of their last 11 games en route to a 24-3 overall record.
• Lewis-Clark State, the preseason No. 1 team, owns an NAIA record 56 all-time top mentions and the association’s longest active streak in the Top 25 at 150-consecutive mentions.
• Three teams have held the No. 1 ranking this season: Faulkner, Lewis-Clark State and Georgia Gwinnett.
• No. 3 Faulkner (2) and No. 4 Bellevue (Neb.) (1) also received first-place votes in the poll.
• No new teams moved into the top 10 this edition, however there was significant movement as every team except for Lewis-Clark State shifted at least one place.
• Vanguard (Calif.) enjoyed the highest positive movement, vaulting three places from No. 18 to No. 15. The Lions (23-8-1), who are currently in second-place in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings at 13-5, took 2-of-3 over the weekend against then-No. 6 Westmont (Calif.).
• Following the previously mentioned series sweep at the hands of Georgia Gwinnett, No. 19 Keiser suffered the biggest drop, down eight spots from the second regular-season edition.
• Two newcomers joined the Top 25 this week – No. 23 Indiana Tech and No. 25 Wayland Baptist (Texas). The Pioneers last appeared in the poll on March 25, 2014, snapping a drought of 21-straight editions without a mention. It has been even longer for Indiana Tech, which was last listed on April 24, 2012.
• Thirty-six teams have been ranked in 2016.
• The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, Southern States Athletic Conference and The Sun Conference lead all leagues with three teams represented each. In total, nine different conferences have at least two schools on the list.
• Outside of Lewis-Clark State, 10 other teams have been ranked No. 1 in at least two polls: Oklahoma City (32), former member Lubbock Christian (Texas) (13), former member Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (11), Faulkner (10), LSU Shreveport (La.) (6), former member Lee (Tenn.) (6), Cumberland (6), Georgia Gwinnett (2) and Tennessee Wesleyan (2).
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.
2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 3 (March 29)
| RANK |
PRVS^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
3 |
Georgia Gwinnett (14) |
34-1 |
495 |
| 2 |
2 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (1) |
24-3 |
477 |
| 3 |
1 |
Faulkner (Ala.) (2) |
28-6 |
471 |
| 4 |
5 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
23-4 |
451 |
| 5 |
4 |
Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) |
26-8 |
420 |
| 6 |
7 |
USC Beaufort (S.C.) |
27-4 |
412 |
| 7 |
6 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
24-6 |
398 |
| 8 |
9 |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
30-1 |
380 |
| 9 |
10 |
Tennessee Wesleyan |
22-9 |
374 |
| 10 |
8 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
25-10 |
369 |
| 11 |
12 |
Tabor (Kan.) |
27-8 |
341 |
| 12 |
14 |
Missouri Baptist |
24-6 |
313 |
| 13 |
15 |
Oklahoma City |
26-9 |
290 |
| 14 |
13 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
21-5 |
270 |
| 15 |
18 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
23-8-1 |
262 |
| 16 |
16 |
York (Neb.) |
22-6 |
247 |
| 17 |
17 |
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) |
24-8 |
238 |
| 18 |
19 |
Middle Georgia State |
26-10 |
236 |
| 19 |
11 |
Keiser (Fla.) |
27-10 |
226 |
| 20 |
20 |
Bryan (Tenn.) |
24-9 |
202 |
| 21 |
21 |
Sterling (Kan.) |
23-8 |
172 |
| 22 |
22 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
18-7 |
166 |
| 23 |
RV |
Indiana Tech |
21-3 |
125 |
| 24 |
25 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
22-11 |
117 |
| 25 |
RV |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
29-9 |
93 |
Dropped from Top 25: LSU Shreveport (La.) (No. 23); William Carey (Miss.) (No. 24)
Others receiving votes: College of Idaho 74; Mobile (Ala.) 65; Menlo (Calif.) 61; Morningside (Iowa) 44; Central Baptist (Ark.) 42; LSU Shreveport (La.) 20; Science & Arts (Okla.) 16; St. Catharine (Ky.) 15; William Carey (Miss.) 12; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 9; IU Southeast (Ind.) 6; Oklahoma Wesleyan 5; The Master’s (Calif.) 3.
^From the 2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 2 (March 22)