KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In the first poll of merged divisions, perennial NAIA Division I powerhouse Georgetown (Ky.) garnered 12 of the 21 first-place votes to begin the season on top in the preseason edition, released Wednesday. Mid-America Christian and Indiana Wesleyan followed close behind at Nos. 2 and 3 while William Penn (Iowa) and Lewis-Clark State College rounded out the top-five.
The Warriors led four Cascade Collegiate Conference teams debuting on the poll, with three sitting in the top-25 and one receiving votes. CCC preseason favorite LC State grabbed one first-place vote to sit in the No. 5 spot, while the College of Idaho – who last year finished the year as the No. 1 team in NAIA Division II – debuts as the No. 8-ranked team in the NAIA’s first year without separate divisions. Oregon Tech starts the season at No. 23, while Southern Oregon University is receiving votes.
2020-21 NAIA Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top-25 Poll – Preseason (October 14, 2020)
| RANK |
LAST YEAR (Division) |
SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] |
2019-20 RECORD |
FINAL POINTS |
| 1 |
1 (I) |
Georgetown (Ky.) [12] |
30-2 |
578 |
| 2 |
2 (I) |
Mid-America Christian (Okla.) [3] |
30-2 |
563 |
| 3 |
2 (II) |
Indiana Wesleyan [5] |
29-4 |
555 |
| 4 |
5 (I) |
William Penn (Iowa) |
30-3 |
512 |
| 5 |
6 (I) |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) [1] |
29-3 |
506 |
| 6 |
3 (I) |
LSU Shreveport (La.) |
29-3 |
498 |
| 7 |
3 (II) |
Morningside (Iowa) |
27-3 |
467 |
| 8 |
1 (II) |
College of Idaho |
31-3 |
436 |
| 9 |
17 (I) |
Arizona Christian |
25-8 |
426 |
| 10 |
9 (I) |
John Brown (Ark.) |
28-5 |
407 |
| 11 |
16 (I) |
Providence (Mont.) |
24-8 |
360 |
| 12 |
6 (II) |
Marian (Ind.) |
25-7 |
328 |
| 13 |
13 (I) |
LSU Alexandria (La.) |
25-6 |
293 |
| 14 |
5 (II) |
Ottawa (Kan.) |
28-6 |
283 |
| 15 |
14 (I) |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
24-8 |
282 |
| 16 |
21 (I) |
Loyola (La.) |
23-10 |
278 |
| 17 |
4 (II) |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
30-3 |
268 |
| 18 |
4 (I) |
Dalton State (Ga.) |
30-3 |
257 |
| 19 |
19 (I) |
The Master's (Calif.) |
23-8 |
231 |
| 20 |
10 (I) |
Xavier (La.) |
27-6 |
193 |
| 21 |
12 (I) |
Carroll (Mont.) |
24-9 |
176 |
| 22 |
11 (I) |
SAGU (Texas) |
25-7 |
161 |
| 23 |
7 (II) |
Oregon Tech |
26-7 |
149 |
| 24 |
16 (II) |
Union (Ky.) |
24-10 |
138 |
| 25 |
9 (II) |
Antelope Valley (Calif.) |
28-4 |
115 |
Others Receiving Votes: Thomas More (Ky.) 108, Westmont (Calif.) 107, Southeastern (Fla.) 97, Oklahoma Wesleyan 91, Saint Francis (Ind.) 67, Indiana Tech 55, Central Baptist (Ark.) 43, Washington Adventist (Md.) 39, Holy Cross (Ind.) 39, Faulkner (Ala.) 39, Bellevue (Neb.) 36, Indiana East (Ind.) 36, Park (Mo.) 35, Northwestern (Iowa) 31, Talladega (Ala.) 16, Dillard (La.) 9, Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) 7,
Southern Oregon 4, Shawnee State (Ohio) 4, Cornerstone (Mich.) 4, Dordt (Iowa) 4.
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 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) beginning in 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.