NAIA DII Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll — No. 6
CI No. 4, WPU No. 13, OIT No. 21, SOU RV
KANSAS CITY, Mo. –Cornerstone (Mich.) holds the No. 1 ranking for a fifth-straight NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The Golden Eagles claimed nine first-place votes and 310 total points.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1998)
• Cornerstone won five-straight to close the regular-season with a 27-3 overall record and 19-1 mark in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC).
• The Golden Eagles have now won back-to-back WHAC regular-season titles and will be the No. 1 seed in the league tournament.
• Cornerstone returns to the court Wednesday against Concordia (Mich.).
• The Golden Eagles now boast 19 all-time No. 1 appearances, which is the fourth-most on the active list.
• IU East (Ind.) checks in at No. 2 and claimed the other three first-place votes.
• Four newcomers joined the Top 25 this week: No. 21 Oregon Tech, No. 22 Bellevue (Neb.), No. 24 Marian (Ind.) and No. 25 WVU Tech.
• Marian is ranked for the first time since the 2015-16 season, while WVU Tech has not received Top 25 recognition since March 1, 2016. Oregon Tech and Bellevue were both ranked previously this year.
• No. 15 Bethel (Ind.) boasts the most active appearances at No. 1 with 35. Behind Bethel for most No. 1 positions is No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan at 22, Cornerstone at 19 and Oregon Tech at 15.
• Indiana Wesleyan holds the longest active streak in the poll with 73-straight mentions. Bethel is next with 63-consecutive appearances, while Saint Francis (Ind.) is next with 54-straight following by Cornerstone at 52-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 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 Top 25 calendar, click here.
2017-18 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 6 (Feb. 20)
| RANK |
LAST WEEK^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2017-18 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 |
Cornerstone (Mich.) (9) |
27-3 |
310 |
| 2 |
2 |
IU East (Ind.) (3) |
28-2 |
304 |
| 3 |
5 |
Indiana Tech |
25-5 |
283 |
| 4 |
4 |
College of Idaho |
24-6 |
281 |
| 5 |
6 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
23-7 |
274 |
| 6 |
10 |
Morningside (Iowa) |
23-6 |
260 |
| 7 |
9 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
22-6 |
252 |
| 8 |
3 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) |
23-7 |
240 |
| 9 |
7 |
Briar Cliff (Iowa) |
24-6 |
233 |
| 10 |
13 |
Union (Ky.) |
20-7 |
214 |
| 11 |
10 |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
23-5 |
211 |
| 12 |
12 |
Southwestern (Kan.) |
24-6 |
192 |
| T13 |
T13 |
Warner Pacific (Ore.) |
21-8 |
181 |
| T13 |
15 |
IU Southeast (Ind.) |
21-7 |
181 |
| 15 |
16 |
Bethel (Ind.) |
22-8 |
171 |
| 16 |
18 |
Governors State (Ill.) |
22-8 |
159 |
| 17 |
8 |
Stillman (Ala.) |
24-4 |
153 |
| 18 |
17 |
Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) |
21-9 |
144 |
| 19 |
20 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
22-8 |
142 |
| 20 |
24 |
Roosevelt (Ill.) |
24-6 |
108 |
| 21 |
RV |
Oregon Tech |
21-9 |
106 |
| 22 |
RV |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
20-10 |
104 |
| 23 |
19 |
Keiser (Fla.) |
19-9 |
103 |
| 24 |
RV |
Marian (Ind.) |
20-10 |
64 |
| 25 |
RV |
WVU Tech |
19-10 |
57 |
Others Receiving Votes: Southeastern (Fla.) 47; Trinity International (Ill.) 46; Jamestown (N.D.) 42; Hastings (Neb.) 39; Antelope Valley (Calif.) 23; Warner (Fla.) 23; Michigan-Dearborn 13; Southern Oregon 4; Milligan (Tenn.) 3; Eastern Oregon 3.
Dropped Out: Eastern Oregon (No. 21); Spring Arbor (Mich.) (No. 22); Jamestown (N.D.) (No. 23); Allen (S.C.) (No. 25)
^ Ranking from Feb. 6, 2018 Top 25 Poll