KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Westmont (Calif.) opens up the 2020-21 season at No. 1 in the NAIA Coaches' Top-25 Poll, announced the national office on Wednesday, as the NAIA ushers in a new era of women's basketball with one combined division.
Two Cascade Collegiate Conference teams received votes in the preseason poll with new full member Lewis-Clark State College and Bushnell University both sitting just outside the top-25.
| 2020-21 Preseason NAIA Women’s Basketball Top-25 Poll |
| RANK |
LAST YEAR |
SCHOOL [1ST PLACE VOTES] |
2019-20 RECORD |
POINTS |
| 1 |
1 (I) |
Westmont (Calif.) [17] |
27-3 |
586 |
| 2 |
2 (I) |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) [4] |
31-2 |
563 |
| 3 |
2 (II) |
Marian (Ind.) |
31-3 |
545 |
| 4 |
4 (I) |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
29-3 |
534 |
| 5 |
5 (I) |
The Master's (Calif.) |
29-3 |
529 |
| 6 |
3 (I) |
Oklahoma City |
30-2 |
486 |
| 7 |
3 (II) |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
27-3 |
464 |
| 8 |
12 (II) |
Dordt (Iowa) |
24-8 |
438 |
| 9 |
8 (I) |
Shawnee State (Ohio) |
29-4 |
437 |
| 10 |
9 (I) |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
23-6 |
416 |
| 11 |
1 (II) |
Concordia (Neb.) |
32-2 |
413 |
| 12 |
5 (II) |
College of the Ozarks (Mo.) |
29-4 |
343 |
| 13 |
20 (I) |
Clarke (Iowa) |
25-7 |
327 |
| 14 |
6 (I) |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
29-4 |
302 |
| 14 |
21 (I) |
Thomas More (Ky.) |
22-10 |
302 |
| 16 |
8 (II) |
St. Francis (Ill.) |
29-5 |
276 |
| 17 |
6 (I) |
Central Methodist (Mo.) |
31-2 |
274 |
| 18 |
11 (I) |
Lyon (Ark.) |
29-3 |
268 |
| 19 |
10 (I) |
Talladega (Ala.) |
28-5 |
247 |
| 20 |
17 (I) |
Carroll (Mont.) |
21-10 |
198 |
| 21 |
15 (I) |
Columbia (Mo.) |
25-7 |
179 |
| 22 |
6 (II) |
Indiana Tech |
30-4 |
155 |
| 23 |
9 (II) |
Saint Xavier (Ill.) |
29-5 |
154 |
| 24 |
10 (II) |
Morningside (Iowa) |
23-10 |
146 |
| 25 |
13 (I) |
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
26-6 |
144 |
Receiving Votes:
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 122, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 102, Indiana Wesleyan 98, Bryan (Tenn.) 73, Loyola (La.) 71, Providence (Mont.) 50, WVU Tech (W.Va.) 42, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 27, Sterling (Kan.) 25, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 12, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 6, Union (Ky.) 4, Antelope Valley (Calif.) 3, Rust (Miss.) 3,
Bushnell (Ore.) 3
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 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 team appears on.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes.”