2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 7
LCSC No 4, UBC RV
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Georgia Gwinnett captures the No. 1 ranking for a fifth-consecutive edition of the NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The eighth regular-season installment will be announced May 3.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000)
• Georgia Gwinnett received all 18 first-place votes and 498 total points, marking the third time this season the Grizzlies were the unanimous choice.
• The Grizzlies entered the week riding a five-game winning streak, including a three-game series sweep of then-No. 5 USC Beaufort (S.C.) over the weekend.
• Georgia Gwinnett – 47-4 prior to Monday night’s win against Cumberland (Tenn.) – is chasing its third-straight 50-win season. The Grizzlies have already punched at least an at-large spot in to the 2016 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round field as one of the nine host sites.
• The next three teams in this week’s Top 25 held strong for a second-straight edition – No. 2 Bellevue (Neb.) (477 points), No. 3 Faulkner (Ala.) (460 points) and No. 4 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (451 points).
• Faulkner and Lewis-Clark State have been ranked in the top five in every poll this season.
• Lewis-Clark State owns a NAIA-record 56 all-time top mentions and the association’s longest active streak in the Top 25 at 153-consecutive polls.
• Three teams have been ranked No. 1 this season: Faulkner (twice), Lewis-Clark State (once) and Georgia Gwinnett (five times).
• No. 9 Tabor (Kan.) is the lone newcomer to the top 10, replacing previous No. 9 Vanguard (Calif.) after the Lions dropped 3-of-4 games last week. The Bluejays have won eight-straight en route to a 38-13 record. Tabor closes the season with a four-game series against Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) rival Ottawa (Kan.) Friday and Saturday.
• No. 12 Sterling (Kan.) and No. 17 Science & Arts (Okla.) highlight this week’s positive movement, as both clubs jumped a poll-high five spots from their previous perch. Sterling enters the final week of its regular-season trailing Tabor by one-game in the KCAC standings, while Science & Arts is part of a three-way tie atop the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC).
• No. 24 St. Thomas (Fla.), which returns to the poll after a one-week hiatus, and No. 25 Southwestern Christian (Okla.) are the newcomers this week.
• Southwestern Christian – ranked for the first time in program history – is one of the hottest teams in NAIA baseball, entering the week with a 16-game winning streak. The Eagles close the regular-season against Science & Arts on Thursday and Friday.
• Thirty-nine teams have been ranked in 2016.
• Thirteen teams have been ranked in every poll.
• The Southern States Athletic Conference leads all leagues with four teams represented – Faulkner, No. 7 Auburn Montgomery, No. 14 Middle Georgia State and No. 19 William Carey (Miss.). The KCAC and the SAC are next with three teams each.
• 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 (6) 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. 7 (April 26)
| RANK |
PRVS^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Georgia Gwinnett (18) |
47-4 |
498 |
| 2 |
2 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
39-7 |
477 |
| 3 |
3 |
Faulkner (Ala.) |
41-11 |
460 |
| 4 |
4 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
40-7 |
451 |
| 5 |
6 |
Tennessee Wesleyan |
36-10 |
437 |
| 6 |
7 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
39-7 |
424 |
| 7 |
8 |
Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) |
38-13 |
388 |
| 8 |
5 |
USC Beaufort (S.C.) |
37-9 |
385 |
| 9 |
11 |
Tabor (Kan.) |
38-13 |
366 |
| 10 |
10 |
Jamestown (N.D.) |
44-5 |
353 |
| 11 |
12 |
Missouri Baptist |
36-11 |
339 |
| 12 |
17 |
Sterling (Kan.) |
40-11 |
316 |
| 13 |
9 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
35-12-1 |
308 |
| 14 |
13 |
Middle Georgia State |
38-13 |
288 |
| 15 |
19 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
34-10 |
275 |
| 16 |
14 |
York (Neb.) |
37-13 |
241 |
| 17 |
22 |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
38-10 |
238 |
| 18 |
15 |
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) |
35-14 |
221 |
| 19 |
21 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
34-15 |
192 |
| 20 |
16 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
31-15 |
189 |
| 21 |
18 |
Bryan (Tenn.) |
33-15 |
173 |
| 22 |
20 |
Texas Wesleyan |
33-15 |
166 |
| 23 |
25 |
IU Southeast (Ind.) |
30-11 |
142 |
| 24 |
RV |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
31-17 |
122 |
| 25 |
RV |
Southwestern Christian (Okla.) |
39-7 |
96 |
Dropped from Top 25: Keiser (Fla.) (No. 23); Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) (No. 24)
Others receiving votes: The Master’s (Calif.) 70; Midland (Neb.) 40; Keiser (Fla.) 39; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 36; Taylor (Ind.) 33; Madonna (Mich.) 29; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 22; Oklahoma Wesleyan 18; Central Baptist (Ark.) 14; Oklahoma City 8;
British Columbia 7; Webber International (Fla.) 7; LSU Alexandria (La.) 6; Avila (Mo.) 3; WVU Tech (W.Va.) 3.
^From the 2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 6 (April 19)