2017 Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll
Story by Trevor Lininger, NAIA Athletic Communications and Media Intern
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Following its second championship in program history, the Broncos of Hastings (Neb.) claim the No. 1 ranking in the 2017 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. Hastings earned the maximum 498 total points to gain the top ranking for the 12th time in school history.
Top 25 Highlights:
• After being ranked No. 25 in the 2016 preseason poll, the Broncos were in the top five for the rest of the 2016 season which they capped off with a 1-0 victory over Rio Grande (Ohio) in the NAIA National Championship
• Hastings (Neb.) return three NAIA All-Americans from 2016, including Daniel Whitehall, who was the 2016 National Player of the Year. Whitehall owns the school record for goals in a season with 34, and points in a season, with 77. GPAC defensive player of the year and 2nd Team All-American Joe White returns at goalkeeper for his senior season with the Broncos.
• No. 25 Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) joins the Top 25 for the first time since 2013.
• Rio Grande (Ohio) holds the record for most No. 1 rankings with 57. They currently are ranked No. 2. The RedStorm were 2015 NAIA National Champions and the National Runner-Up in 2016.
• Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) holds the record for the longest consecutively-ranked active school at 106-straight polls, dating back to the first installment of the 2007 Top 25 Poll (Sept. 5). Rio Grande is second with 99-consecutive rankings.
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 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”
2017 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll (Aug. 15)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL | 2016 RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Hastings (Neb.) | 24-0-1 | 498 |
| 2 | 2 | Rio Grande (Ohio) | 21-2-2 | 482 |
| 3 | 4 | Grand View (Iowa) | 17-7-1 | 457 |
| 4 | 5 | Northwestern Ohio | 19-2-3 | 450 |
| 5 | 6 | WVU Tech | 18-3-2 | 429 |
| 6 | 8 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 19-1-2 | 426 |
| 7 | 9 | William Carey (Miss.) | 16-3-2 | 390 |
| 8 | 10 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 16-4-1 | 375 |
| 9 | 11 | Marymount (Calif.) | 17-2-2 | 369 |
| 10 | 12 | Corban (Ore.) | 20-3-0 | 345 |
| 11 | 17 | Bryan (Tenn.) | 16-3-3 | 343 |
| 12 | 13 | Thomas (Ga.) | 15-4-2 | 319 |
| 13 | 14 | Midland (Neb.) | 17-4-1 | 307 |
| 14 | 15 | Spring Arbor (Mich.) | 15-4-4 | 292 |
| 15 | 7 | Union (Ky.) | 19-3-2 | 277 |
| 16 | 16 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 16-2-3 | 261 |
| 17 | 18 | Baker (Kan.) | 13-5-2 | 248 |
| 18 | 19 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 16-4-2 | 207 |
| 19 | T24 | John Brown (Ark.) | 13-4-2 | 195 |
| 20 | 21 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 13-5-2 | 180 |
| 21 | 23 | Georgia Gwinnett | 13-4-3 | 167 |
| 22 | 25 | Menlo (Calif.) | 15-5-1 | 163 |
| 23 | T24 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 13-4-2 | 147 |
| 24 | 20 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 14-4-3 | 130 |
| 25 | NR | Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) | 12-4-4 | 102 |
Others Receiving Votes: Westmont (Calif.) 70, Benedictine (Kan.) 46, McPherson (Kan.) 42, St. Thomas (Fla.) 28, Columbia (Mo.) 28, Vanguard (Calif.) 26, Dalton State (Ga.) 22, Reinhardt (Ga.) 19, Bellevue (Neb.) 17, Southern Oregon 16, Indiana Tech 14, Missouri Valley 5.