KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the final regular-season edition, Georgia Gwinnett again lands in the No. 1 ranking in the 2018 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, announced Tuesday by the national office. As the unanimous selection, the Grizzlies hold the top spot for the fifth-straight week in collecting 18 first-place votes and 498 total points.

Poll Methodology

• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the 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.

2018 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Final (May 8)

RANK	LAST WEEK^	SCHOOL (1st PLACE VOTES)	2018 RECORD	TOTAL POINTS
1	1	Georgia Gwinnett (18)	49-3	498
2	5	Oklahoma City	47-7	468
3	2	Marian (Ind.)	47-5	462
4	4	Campbellsville (Ky.)	45-8	452
5	3	Science & Arts (Okla.)	50-5	444
6	6	Hope International (Calif.)	46-9	411
7	10	Indiana Wesleyan	54-9	389
8	8	Southern Oregon	44-12	385
9	9	Mobile (Ala.)	42-13	369
10	7	Vanguard (Calif.)	50-10	362
11	15	Jamestown (N.D.)	43-7	300
12	14	Thomas (Ga.)	38-14	293
13	11	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	39-14	291
14	12	Corban (Ore.)	35-13	286
15	16	St. Francis (Ill.)	38-7	283
16	17	Grand View (Iowa)	46-8	278
17	13	Faulkner (Ala.)	44-12	270
18	19	Central Methodist (Mo.)	41-9	225
19	18	William Carey (Miss.)	38-13	210
20	20	Oregon Tech	36-13	162
21	22	Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)	31-13	158
22	21	Southeastern (Fla.)	40-16	147
23	NR	Truett-McConnell (Ga.)	40-15	125
24	NR	Rio Grande (Ohio)	35-11	110
T25	NR	Valley City State (N.D.)	39-12	72
T25	T25	Baker (Kan.)	40-14	72

Others Receiving Votes: Midland (Neb.) 52; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 45; Columbia (Mo.) 45; Georgetown (Ky.) 36; Texas Wesleyan 36; USC Beaufort (S.C.) 27; Aquinas (Mich.) 26; Northwestern (Iowa) 21; William Jessup (Calif.) 16; Houston-Victoria (Texas) 10; Tabor (Kan.) 6; Taylor (Ind.) 4; Warner (Fla.) 3.

Dropped Out: No. 23 Morningside (Iowa), No. 24 Warner (Fla.).

^ Previous ranking occurred April 24, 2018 (Poll No. 4)