2018 NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll — Week 9 (Oct. 30)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Rio Grande (Ohio) is the new top-ranked team in the 2018 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, taking advantage of the first tie of the season by William Carey (Miss.) to leap-frog two spots.
Top 25 Highlights
- William Carey’s reign at the top ended at seven-consecutive weeks; the Crusaders received their first non-win decision of the year in a scoreless draw with RV Florida College.
- William Carey’s tie opened the door for Rio Grande – undefeated and drawless – to jump from No. 3 to No. 1, although William Carey still received more first-place votes than the Red Storm, 8 to 7. Rio Grande remains a perfect 16-0-0 on the year, and also wrapped up the River States regular-season conference title.
- Rio Grande remains the all-time leader in No. 1 appearances since 2000, moving its total to 58 with its current ranking. This is the first time the Red Storm have been No. 1 since the 2016 preseason poll.
- No. 3 Central Methodist (Mo.) wrapped up the Heart of America regular-season championship, earning an automatic berth to the National Championship Opening Round. This is also the highest ranking in program history for the Eagles.
- New to the poll this week are No. 20 Madonna (Mich.), No. 21 Science & Arts (Okla.), No. 23 Kansas Wesleyan and No. 25 Columbia (Mo.).
- Dropping out of the poll this week were: Southeastern (Fla.), Southwestern Christian (Okla.), William Woods (Mo.) and Reinhardt (Ga.).
- Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) holds the record as the longest consecutively ranked active school at 126-straight polls, dating back to the first installment of the Top 25 in 2007. Rio Grande is second on the list with 116 consecutive polls.
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, Association of Independent Institutions and Unaffiliated Groups.
- 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 in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes.”
- For the complete men’s soccer ratings calendar, click here.
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2018 NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll - No. 9 (Oct. 30)
| RANK |
LAST WEEK |
SCHOOL FIRST-PLACE VOTES) |
RECORD |
POINTS |
| 1 |
3 |
Rio Grande (Ohio) (7) |
16-0-0 |
485 |
| 2 |
1 |
William Carey (Miss.) (8) |
15-0-1 |
483 |
| 3 |
5 |
Central Methodist (Mo.) (3) |
15-1-2 |
458 |
| 4 |
2 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
15-2-0 |
456 |
| 5 |
4 |
Hastings (Neb.) |
14-2-0 |
448 |
| 6 |
6 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
14-0-2 |
415 |
| 7 |
8 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
12-2-1 |
396 |
| 8 |
9 |
Missouri Valley |
11-3-3 |
388 |
| 9 |
10 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
11-3-1 |
356 |
| 10 |
12 |
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
15-3-0 |
347 |
| 11 |
7 |
Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) |
15-2-0 |
342 |
| 12 |
13 |
Baker (Kan.) |
14-4-0 |
330 |
| 13 |
11 |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
12-3-0 |
293 |
| 14 |
14 |
Southern Oregon |
14-2-2 |
292 |
| 15 |
15 |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
14-3-1 |
288 |
| 16 |
16 |
Corban (Ore.) |
14-2-1 |
254 |
| 17 |
23 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
14-4-0 |
217 |
| 18 |
24 |
Benedictine (Kan.) |
11-4-3 |
202 |
| 19 |
25 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
13-3-0 |
165 |
| 20 |
NR |
Madonna (Mich.) |
15-3-0 |
151 |
| 21 |
NR |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
12-3-2 |
135 |
| 22 |
18 |
William Penn (Iowa) |
14-4-0 |
118 |
| 23 |
NR |
Kansas Wesleyan |
13-4-0 |
107 |
| 24 |
17 |
University of Northwestern Ohio |
13-3-2 |
106 |
| 25 |
NR |
Columbia (Mo.) |
12-4-1 |
98 |
|
Dropped out: Southeastern (Fla.), Southwestern Christian (Okla.), William Woods (Mo.), Reinhardt (Ga.)
Receiving votes: Point (Ga.) 83, Mobile (Ala.) 63, Thomas (Ga.) 52, Marymount California 44, Southeastern (Fla.) 42, WVU Tech 41, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 40, Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 36, William Woods (Mo.) 33, Georgia Gwinnett 18, Houston-Victoria (Texas) 15, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 15, Reinhardt (Ga.) 15, Grace (Ind.) 14, Arizona Christian 9, Florida College 3