2018 NAIA DII Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll — No. 1

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Defending-champion Indiana Wesleyan remains as the No. 1 team in the first edition of the 2018 NAIA DII Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. However, the Wildcats’ lead shrunk, as their first-place vote total dropped from 11 in the preseason poll to seven.

Top 25 Highlights (dating back to 2000-2001 season)

• Indiana Wesleyan is 9-1 on the early season, with its only loss coming to then-No. 2 IU-East, 85-84.
• There were some major changes at the top of the poll. Oklahoma Wesleyan and Marian (Ind.) entered the top 5 at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively. IU-East dropped from No. 2 to seventh, while Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) made a huge leap from No. 15 to No. 6.
• College of Idaho received three first-place votes; Morningside (Iowa) and Oklahoma Wesleyan each received one.
• Six teams jumped into the poll: No. 18 St. Ambrose (Iowa), No. 19 Hastings (Kan.), No. 21 Dordt (Iowa), No. 23 Spring Arbor (Mich.) , No. 24 Voorhees (S.C.) and No. 25 Montreat (N.C.).
• No. 15 Bethel (Ind.) has the most active appearances at No. 1 with 35. Behind Bethel are No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan with 23, No. 8 Cornerstone (Mich.) at 19 and No. 22 Oregon Tech at 15.
• Indiana Wesleyan holds the longest active streak in the poll with 76-straight appearances. Bethel is next with 66. Following those two teams are Saint Francis (Ind.) with 57 and Cornerstone with 55.

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 appear on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
• The frequency of polls occurs 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.

2018-2019 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 1 (Nov. 27, 2018)

Dropped out: Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), Warner (Fla.), Bellevue (Neb.), Saint Francis (Ind.), Trinity International (Ill.), St. Thomas (Fla.)

Others receiving votes: Dakota Wesleyan 56, Coastal Georgia 49, UC-Merced 47, Madonna (Mich.) 40, Warner (Fla.) 34, Friends (Kan.) 30, College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 27, Mayville State (N.D.) 23, Bluefield (Va.) 18, Huntington (Ind.) 7, Calumet (Ind.) 4