2018 NAIA DII Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll — No. 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Defending-champion Indiana Wesleyan remains as the No. 1 team in the first edition of the 2018 NAIA DII Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. However, the Wildcats’ lead shrunk, as their first-place vote total dropped from 11 in the preseason poll to seven.
Top 25 Highlights (dating back to 2000-2001 season)
- Indiana Wesleyan is 9-1 on the early season, with its only loss coming to then-No. 2 IU-East, 85-84.
- There were some major changes at the top of the poll. Oklahoma Wesleyan and Marian (Ind.) entered the top 5 at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively. IU-East dropped from No. 2 to seventh, while Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) made a huge leap from No. 15 to No. 6.
- College of Idaho received three first-place votes; Morningside (Iowa) and Oklahoma Wesleyan each received one.
- Six teams jumped into the poll: No. 18 St. Ambrose (Iowa), No. 19 Hastings (Kan.), No. 21 Dordt (Iowa), No. 23 Spring Arbor (Mich.) , No. 24 Voorhees (S.C.) and No. 25 Montreat (N.C.).
- No. 15 Bethel (Ind.) has the most active appearances at No. 1 with 35. Behind Bethel are No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan with 23, No. 8 Cornerstone (Mich.) at 19 and No. 22 Oregon Tech at 15.
- Indiana Wesleyan holds the longest active streak in the poll with 76-straight appearances. Bethel is next with 66. Following those two teams are Saint Francis (Ind.) with 57 and Cornerstone with 55.
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 in 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.
2018-2019 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 1 (Nov. 27, 2018)
| Rank |
Last Week |
School [First-place votes] |
Record |
Points |
| 1 |
1 |
Indiana Wesleyan [7] |
9-1 |
307 |
| 2 |
3 |
College of Idaho [3] |
11-1 |
297 |
| 2 |
4 |
Morningside (Iowa) [1] |
7-0 |
297 |
| 4 |
6 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan [1] |
8-0 |
282 |
| 5 |
8 |
Marian (Ind.) |
8-0 |
276 |
| 6 |
15 |
Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) |
8-0 |
250 |
| 7 |
2 |
Indiana East (Ind.) |
7-3 |
241 |
| 8 |
10 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
7-1 |
237 |
| 9 |
7 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) |
8-3 |
234 |
| 10 |
9 |
Union (Ky.) |
7-2 |
209 |
| 11 |
11 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
5-1 |
207 |
| 11 |
13 |
WVU Tech |
8-1 |
207 |
| 13 |
22 |
Southern Oregon |
9-1 |
201 |
| 14 |
18 |
Southwestern (Kan.) |
6-0 |
184 |
| 15 |
23 |
Bethel (Ind.) |
9-1 |
182 |
| 16 |
5 |
Indiana Tech |
6-4 |
159 |
| 17 |
23 |
Warner Pacific (Ore.) |
6-2 |
147 |
| 18 |
NR |
St. Ambrose (Iowa) |
5-1 |
131 |
| 19 |
NR |
Hastings (Neb.) |
7-2 |
127 |
| 20 |
20 |
Indiana Southeast (Ind.) |
5-3 |
116 |
| 21 |
NR |
Dordt (Iowa) |
8-2 |
74 |
| 22 |
12 |
Oregon Tech |
8-3 |
69 |
| 23 |
NR |
Spring Arbor (Mich.) |
9-1 |
68 |
| 24 |
NR |
Voorhees (S.C.) |
8-3 |
66 |
| 25 |
NR |
Montreat (N.C.) |
6-0 |
59 |
|
Dropped out: Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), Warner (Fla.), Bellevue (Neb.), Saint Francis (Ind.), Trinity International (Ill.), St. Thomas (Fla.)
Others receiving votes: Dakota Wesleyan 56, Coastal Georgia 49, UC-Merced 47, Madonna (Mich.) 40, Warner (Fla.) 34, Friends (Kan.) 30, College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 27, Mayville State (N.D.) 23, Bluefield (Va.) 18, Huntington (Ind.) 7, Calumet (Ind.) 4