2016-17 NAIA Men's Golf Coaches' Top 25 Poll - No. 1 (Sept. 30)
OIT No. 22, CRB No. 24
By Nikki Sherrill, Communications & Sports Information Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The ten-time national champions remain as the No. 1 team in the country as Oklahoma City captures the top spot in the first regular-season NAIA Men’s Golf Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, the national office announced Friday. Sweeping all 20 first-place votes and 560 total points, the Stars are the unanimous No. 1 team in the newest poll. The next Top 25 poll will be released Friday, Nov. 4.
Top 25 highlights (historical information dates back to 1999):
• The defending national champions are again the top team in the nation as No. 1 Oklahoma City leads all programs in the newest edition of the Top 25 poll. The Stars have been in this position for now three-straight polls after winning its tenth national championship last season.
• Texas Wesleyan moved up into the No. 2 spot this week, switching places with No. 3 William Woods (Mo.). Wayland Baptist (Texas) made a small jump to No. 4, and No. 5 British Columbia rounds out the top five.
• Five teams are welcomed into this week’s rankings as No. 14 Northwestern Ohio and No. 15 Point (Ga.) both make appearances for the first time in program history. No. 13 St. Thomas (Fla.) is ranked in its first poll since 2013 and No. 23 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) and No. 24 Corban (Ore.) both are new teams as well this week.
• With many teams finding their way into the poll, the same amount is now looking from the outside in as five teams have fallen out of the rankings; Marian (Ind.), Arizona Christian, Reinhardt (Ga.), Faulkner (Ala.) and Taylor (Ind.) all are now receiving votes.
• No. 12 USC Beaufort (S.C.) made the biggest positive movement as it jumped up six spots. No. 7 Dalton State (Ga.) and No. 10 Victoria (B.C.) are both not far behind crawling up four spots. Mount Mercy (Iowa) moved up two spots to No. 18 and No. 2 Texas Wesleyan, No. 4 Wayland Baptist and No. 5 British Columbia each made a one-place jump.
• As far as negative movement goes in this edition, No. 22 Oregon Tech and No. 25 Webber International (Fla.) both fell back the most with nine spots.
• Thirteen of the 21 conference/unaffiliated groups are represented this week, with The Sun Conference leading the way bringing in six teams to the poll. The Sooner Athletic Conference is represented by three programs, including the No. 1 team. The Association of Independent Institutions, Southern States Athletic Conference, Heart of America Athletic Conference and Cascade Collegiate Conference each have three teams accounted for.
• Only two teams have gone the entire season ranked No. 1 with Oklahoma City in 2002 and 2004 and former member Oklahoma Christian in 2008.
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”
• The frequency of polls occur bi-weekly for the 2016-17 season.
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click
here.
2016-17 NAIA Men’s Golf Coaches’ Top 25 Poll No. 1 – (Sept. 30, 2016)
| RANK |
LAST^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Oklahoma City (20) |
560 |
| 2 |
3 |
Texas Wesleyan |
535 |
| 3 |
2 |
William Woods (Mo.) |
507 |
| 4 |
5 |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
496 |
| 5 |
6 |
British Columbia |
489 |
| 6 |
4 |
Johnson & Wales (Fla.) |
471 |
| 7 |
11 |
Dalton State (Ga.) |
446 |
| 8 |
8 |
Keiser (Fla.) |
423 |
| 9 |
9 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
399 |
| 10 |
14 |
Victoria (B.C.) |
396 |
| 11 |
7 |
Coastal Georgia |
377 |
| 12 |
18 |
USC Beaufort (S.C.) |
364 |
| 13 |
NR |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
299 |
| 14 |
NR |
Northwestern Ohio |
280 |
| 15 |
NR |
Point (Ga.) |
278 |
| 16 |
10 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
257 |
| 17 |
17 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
250 |
| 18 |
20 |
Mount Mercy (Iowa) |
203 |
| 19 |
19 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
199 |
| 20 |
12 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
191 |
| 21 |
15 |
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
177 |
| 22 |
13 |
Oregon Tech |
172 |
| 23 |
NR |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
156 |
| 24 |
NR |
Corban (Ore.) |
148 |
| 25 |
16 |
Webber International (Fla.) |
132 |
| |
|
|
|
Dropped out of rankings: Marian (Ind.) (RV); Arizona Christian (RV); Reinhardt (Ga.) (RV); Faulkner (Ala.) (RV); Taylor (Ind.) (RV)
Others receiving votes: Marian (Ind.) 131; Arizona Christian 115; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 115; Reinhardt (Ga.) 97; Faulkner (Ala.) 60; Taylor (Ind.) 47; Union (Ky.) 33; Northwestern (Iowa) 32; Missouri Valley 18; Bellevue (Neb.) 16; Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 11; Thomas (Ga.) 11; Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 7; St. Ambrose (Iowa) 4; William Jessup (Calif.) 3.
^Based off 2016 Preseason Coaches’ Poll (August 26, 2016)