2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 7 - Cascade Collegiate Conference Skip To Main Content

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2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 7

2016 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 7

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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)

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