NAIA DII Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll — No. 3
CI No. 8, WPC No. 16, OIT No. 20, SOU No. 23, EOU RV
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the second-straight edition and third time this season, Cornerstone (Mich.) claims the No. 1 spot in the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The Golden Eagles claimed all 12 first-place votes and 312 total points this week.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1998)
• Cornerstone (17-2), which currently leads the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference at 9-0, has won 17-straight since dropping the first two games of the season.
• The 17 victories by the Golden Eagles is tied with No. 4 Briar Cliff (Iowa) for the most in the NAIA so far this season.
• Cornerstone now boasts 16 all-time No. 1 appearances, which is fourth-most on the active list.
• Three newcomers joined the Top 25 this week: No. 21 IU Southeast (Ind.), No. 22 Mayville State (N.D.) and No. 25 Keiser (Fla.). Mayville State is ranked for the first time since the 2006-07 final poll, which is the longest drought among the trio.
• No. 11 Bethel (Ind.) boasts the most active appearances at No. 1 with 35. Behind Bethel for most No. 1 positions is No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan at 22, Cornerstone 16 and No. 20 Oregon Tech at 15.
• Indiana Wesleyan holds the longest active streak in the poll with 70-straight mentions. Bethel is next with 60-consecutive appearances, while Cornerstone is third at 49-straight.
Poll Methodology
• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and 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 rating) 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 appear on.
• Teams that receive only one point on the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
• The frequency of polls occurs 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 Top 25 calendar, click here.
2017-18 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 3 (January 9)
| RANK |
LAST TIME^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2017-18 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) (12) |
17-2 |
312 |
| 2 |
2 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
16-2 |
302 |
| 3 |
3 |
IU East (Ind.) |
16-2 |
292 |
| 4 |
5 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
17-2 |
281 |
| 5 |
6 |
Indiana Tech |
16-3 |
273 |
| 6 |
8 |
Southwestern (Kan.) |
16-2 |
247 |
| 7 |
4 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
13-5 |
244 |
| 8 |
12 |
College of Idaho |
12-5 |
232 |
| 9 |
10 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
13-4 |
229 |
| 10 |
11 |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
16-2 |
218 |
| 11 |
14 |
Bethel (Ind.) |
15-3 |
214 |
| 12 |
17 |
Montreat (N.C.) |
14-1 |
206 |
| 13 |
16 |
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
16-2 |
193 |
| 14 |
18 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
12-5 |
178 |
| 15 |
7 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
12-4 |
162 |
| 16 |
25 |
Warner Pacific (Ore.) |
13-4 |
161 |
| 17 |
21 |
Stillman (Ala.) |
12-3 |
157 |
| 18 |
13 |
Trinity International (Ill.) |
13-5 |
143 |
| 19 |
20 |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
15-5 |
136 |
| 20 |
19 |
Oregon Tech |
14-5 |
112 |
| 21 |
NR |
IU Southeast (Ind.) |
11-5 |
100 |
| 22 |
NR |
Mayville State (N.D.) |
11-3 |
91 |
| 23 |
9 |
Southern Oregon |
10-6 |
86 |
| 24 |
15 |
Union (Ky.) |
10-7 |
79 |
| 25 |
RV |
Keiser (Fla.) |
10-6 |
50 |
Others Receiving Votes: Warner (Fla.) 43; Allen (S.C.) 34; Asbury (Ky.) 32; Antelope Valley (Calif.) 28; Michigan-Dearborn 28; Dickinson State (N.D.) 25; Eastern Oregon 21; Concordia (Neb.) 17; Governors State (Ill.) 10; Roosevelt (Ill.) 8; Coastal Georgia 4; Jamestown (N.D.) 4; Madonna (Mich.) 3.
Dropped Out: College of the Ozarks (Mo.) (No. 22); Michigan-Dearborn (No. 23); Taylor (Ind.) (No. 24)
^ Ranking from Dec. 12, 2017 Top 25 Poll