KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Oklahoma City continues to control the top of the charts, holding the No. 1 spot for the 12th-straight time in the 2017 NAIA Softball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, announced Tuesday by the national office. The final regular-season Top 25, along with the national championship opening round qualifiers and pairings, will be announced on Wednesday, May 10 at 6 p.m. CST. The announcement will occur via a live video selection show on NAIA.org.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
• With all 19 first-place votes and 529 points, Oklahoma City heads into the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 1 seed. Postseason action begins Thursday from Oklahoma City.
• The defending national champion had a 52-game win streak snapped after a loss to NCAA Division II powerhouse West Texas A&M (ranked No. 6) on April 18. The Stars started the year 47-0 prior to that setback.
• The 12-straight top rankings by Oklahoma City is the longest for an NAIA program since former member Concordia (Calif.) went 18-consecutive weeks at No. 1 that spanned the 2013-14 seasons.
• The Stars are ranked No. 1 in the NAIA in several key categories: win percentage (.983), runs scored per game (8.1); total RBIs (423), opponent batting average (.144) and team ERA (0.74).
• Brenau (Ga.) holds in the No. 2 position for the second-straight week. The Tigers have the second-most victories in the NAIA with a 51-5 mark. After winning the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Tournament, Brenau qualified for its second-straight NAIA National Championship Opening Round.
• The rest of the teams in positions No. 3 through 8 all held from the previous installment: No. 3 Columbia (Mo.), No. 4 Marian (Ind.), No. 5 Georgia Gwinnett, No. 6 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), No. 7 William Carey (Miss.) and No. 8 Davenport (Mich.).
• Movement was minimal within poll. Two teams – No. 14 Reinhardt (Ga.) and No. 23 Bellevue (Neb.) – both improved two spots. Conversely, No. 16 Vanguard (Calif.) and No. 20 Southern Oregon both slipped down two positions.
• The lone newcomer is No. 24 Williams Baptist (Ark.). The Eagles took a break in the previous poll but was ranked No. 19 in the second regular-season installment.
• Overall, 18 of the 19 conferences are represented in this edition. The Southern States Athletic Conference has the most schools represented with three.
• Six conferences send at least two schools into the Top 25.
• Through five polls this year, 39 different programs have been ranked at least once.
• Oklahoma City leads all active schools with 126-straight rankings, falling no lower than 18th during that stretch, which goes back to the start of the 2004 season. William Carey is second with 89-consecutive mentions. Next in line for consecutive streaks is Lindsey Wilson at 50.
• Former member California Baptist tops the charts of most all-time No. 1 mentions with 46. Oklahoma City is second all-time with 40, followed by former member Concordia with 24, former member Simon Fraser (B.C.) with 18 and Thomas (Ga.) with 13.
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”
• Frequency of polls occur bi-weekly. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) for the 2016-17 academic season. This change will allow raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work in between rating periods.
• For the complete calendar of 2017 Top 25 Polls, click here.
2017 NAIA Softball Coaches' Top 25 Poll – May 2, 2017
| RANK |
LAST WEEK^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2017 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Oklahoma City (19) |
57-1 |
529 |
| 2 |
2 |
Brenau (Ga.) |
53-5 |
508 |
| 3 |
3 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
40-5 |
496 |
| 4 |
4 |
Marian (Ind.) |
40-4 |
471 |
| 5 |
5 |
Georgia Gwinnett |
45-7-1 |
465 |
| 6 |
6 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
39-11 |
427 |
| 7 |
7 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
42-10 |
422 |
| 8 |
8 |
Davenport (Mich.) |
38-6 |
416 |
| 9 |
10 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
35-8 |
381 |
| 10 |
9 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
37-13 |
368 |
| 11 |
12 |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
37-5 |
350 |
| 12 |
11 |
LSU Alexandria |
43-8 |
348 |
| 13 |
13 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
38-13 |
321 |
| 14 |
16 |
Reinhardt (Ga.) |
41-14-1 |
296 |
| 15 |
15 |
Corban (Ore.) |
38-9 |
283 |
| 16 |
14 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
42-12 |
280 |
| 17 |
17 |
Simpson (Calif.) |
40-8 |
279 |
| 18 |
19 |
Rio Grande (Ohio) |
41-7 |
226 |
| 19 |
20 |
Mobile (Ala.) |
40-18 |
202 |
| 20 |
18 |
Southern Oregon |
37-12 |
190 |
| 21 |
21 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
39-11 |
183 |
| 22 |
23 |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
34-15 |
155 |
| 23 |
25 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
45-12 |
152 |
| 24 |
NR |
Williams Baptist (Ark.) |
29-9 |
147 |
| 25 |
24 |
Warner (Fla.) |
22-13 |
113 |
Dropped from rankings: No. 22 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)
Others Receiving Votes: Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 64; Taylor (Ind.) 51; Oregon Tech 49; Clarke (Iowa) 46; Georgetown (Ky.) 35; Thomas (Ga.) 22; Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) 18; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 18; Ottawa (Kan.) 15; Coastal Georgia 14; Menlo (Calif.) 10; Indiana Wesleyan 9; St. Gregory's (Okla.) 7.