2016-17 Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Postseason Poll
National Champion Union (Ky.) earns top spot
Spencer Scheve, Athletic Communications and Media Intern
KANSAS CITY, MO. – In the postseason edition, national champion Union (Ky.) remains atop the rankings as the No. 1 team in the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday. The Bulldogs earned all 11 first-place votes and 281 total points to remain in control.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1998):
• Union (Ky.) earns the No. 1 ranking for the third time in school history after defeating Cornerstone (Mich.) to win its first ever NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball national title.
• The Bulldogs closed the season on a 33 game winning streak, earning a school record 35-3 mark.
• 2017 national runner-up Cornerstone (34-3) received a total of 272 points.
• No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan (29-8) earned 258 points and has been in the top 10 in 40-straight editions, dating back to Jan. 28, 2014 when the Wildcats were No. 11.
• No. 4 Bethel (Ind.) (31-5) gathered 258 points and has been in the top five for five-straight editions.
• No. 5 Bellevue (Neb.) (25-11) received a total of 245 points.
• There is one new team in the Top 25 – No. 19 York (Neb.). York advanced to the second-round, where the Panthers fell to Bellevue, 78-76.
• The last time York was ranked was on Dec. 15, 2016 when the Panthers were No. 15.
• The only team to fall out of the Top 25 is WVU Tech.
• The greatest movement in this edition is No. 5 Bellevue, who climbed 17 spots to enter the top five, and No. 8 Tabor (Kan.), who scaled 15 spots to move into the top 10.
• Overall, 11 of the 12 conference are represented in this edition of the poll. The Crossroads League, Cascade Collegiate Conference and the Great Plains Athletic Conference are tied for most schools represented with four each.
• Bethel (Ind.) has been ranked No. 1 the most times in history, coming in with 35 appearances.
• Davenport (Mich.) holds the longest-active streak of being ranked consecutively with 97-straight mentions.
• Jamestown (N.D.) (2003-04) and former-member Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (2000-01) are the only Division II teams to go the entire season ranked No. 1.
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.
| RANK |
LAST WEEK^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Union (Ky.) (11) |
35-3 |
281 |
| 2 |
2 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) |
34-4 |
272 |
| 3 |
4 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
29-8 |
258 |
| 4 |
3 |
Bethel (Ind.) |
31-5 |
256 |
| 5 |
22 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
25-11 |
245 |
| 6 |
7 |
IU East (Ind.) |
28-8 |
237 |
| 7 |
11 |
Trinity International (Ill.) |
30-6 |
215 |
| 8 |
23 |
Tabor (Kan.) |
25-10 |
212 |
| 9 |
9 |
Northwest Christian (Ore.) |
25-6 |
209 |
| 10 |
5 |
Robert Morris (Ill.) |
27-7 |
207 |
| 11 |
12 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
26-8 |
182 |
| 12 |
13 |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
27-7 |
168 |
| 13 |
15 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
23-11 |
163 |
| 14 |
19 |
College of Idaho |
24-10 |
159 |
| 15 |
10 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
24-9 |
148 |
| 16 |
8 |
Warner (Fla.) |
26-5 |
144 |
| 17 |
14 |
Eastern Oregon |
24-9 |
139 |
| 18 |
6 |
Rochester (Mich.) |
29-3 |
130 |
| 19 |
NR |
York (Neb.) |
25-10 |
127 |
| 20 |
16 |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D) |
23-10 |
121 |
| 21 |
25 |
Taylor (Ind.) |
21-12 |
101 |
| 22 |
18 |
Oregon Tech |
24-10 |
89 |
| 23 |
17 |
IU Southeast |
24-7 |
87 |
| 24 |
21 |
Midland (Neb.) |
21-10 |
79 |
| 25 |
20 |
Washington Adventist (Md.) |
22-7 |
72 |
Receiving Votes: WVU Tech 59; Reinhardt (Ga.) 27; Florida Memorial 25; Morningside (Iowa) 17; Cal Maritime 14; Aquinas (Mich.) 11; St. Thomas (Fla.) 10; Pacific Union (Calif.) 8;
Corban (Ore.) 7; Southwestern (Kan.) 6; Concordia (Neb.) 5