KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The first edition of the 2023 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll was released Wednesday by the national office. The Cascade Collegiate Conference saw four teams ranked to start the season.
Oregon Tech leads the CCC by jumping two places from the preseason poll to land in the No. 5 spot. Southern Oregon University follows, moving up one spot to be ranked 9th, along with College of Idaho who is now ranked No. 12. Eastern Oregon University fell two spots to round out the ranked conference teams but is still holding on in the No. 21 position.
2023 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll
| RANK |
LAST TIME |
SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] |
RECORD |
FINAL POINTS |
| 1 |
2 |
Mobile (Ala.) [16] |
13-2 |
527 |
| 2 |
6 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
5-1 |
476 |
| 3 |
5 |
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) |
5-3 |
462 |
| 4 |
RV |
Texas A&M Texarkana [1] |
15-0 |
454 |
| 5 |
7 |
Oregon Tech |
12-5 |
452 |
| 6 |
1 |
Oklahoma City [2] |
13-5 |
435 |
| 7 |
15 |
Our Lady of the Lake (TX) |
16-4 |
415 |
| 8 |
3 |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
9-5 |
406 |
| 9 |
10 |
Southern Oregon |
12-4 |
398 |
| 10 |
NR |
Baker (Kan.) |
13-2 |
385 |
| 11 |
14 |
Georgia Gwinnett |
13-4 |
369 |
| 12 |
13 |
College of Idaho |
16-2 |
342 |
| 13 |
24 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
17-2 |
333 |
| 14 |
11 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
14-3 |
294 |
| 15 |
12 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
12-4 |
283 |
| 16 |
4 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
7-8 |
267 |
| 17 |
NR |
Northwestern (Iowa) |
16-0 |
252 |
| 18 |
9 |
Tennessee Wesleyan |
5-3 |
233 |
| 19 |
NR |
Ottawa (Kan.) |
13-3 |
201 |
| 20 |
8 |
Central Methodist (Mo.) |
8-4 |
189 |
| 21 |
19 |
Eastern Oregon |
12-6 |
187 |
| 22 |
NR |
Middle Georgia State |
14-2 |
181 |
| 23 |
17 |
Marian (Ind.) |
1-1 |
170 |
| 24 |
20 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
10-6-1 |
130 |
| 25 |
18 |
Coastal Georgia |
9-4 |
128 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Jessup (Calif.), Midland (Neb.), Columbia (Mo.), Webber International (Fla.), Saint Xavier (Ill.)
Others Receiving Votes: Jessup (Calif.) 116, Truett McConnell (Ga.) 75, Oklahoma Wesleyan 73, Hope International (Calif.) 61, Midland (Neb.) 33, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 23, St. Francis (Ill.) 23, Bellevue (Neb.) 17, Michigan-Dearborn 17, Missouri Baptist 14, Reinhardt (Ga.) 7, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 7, Vanguard (Calif.) 6, St. Mary of the Woods (Ind.) 3, Arizona Christian 3.
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents).
- 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 on the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
- The frequency of the polls is bi-weekly. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) prior to the 2016-17 academic season. This change allows raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work between rating periods.
- For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.