KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Coming off a national championship run in 2018, Southeastern (Fla.) grabbed the top spot in the preseason edition of the NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) and Georgia Gwinnett held down the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, while Faulkner (Ala.) leap-frogged Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) from last season’s postseason poll to round-out the top five.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999)
- Southeastern captured its first-ever NAIA National Championship in 2018.
- The Fire received all 18 first-place votes.
- Tennessee Wesleyan made the largest jump from the postseason poll in June. The Bulldogs went from No. 17 to No. 12 in the 2019 Preseason Poll, coming just shy of an Avista-NAIA World Series berth a season ago.
- Webber International (Fla.) also made sizeable gains from a season ago. The Warriors jumped out of the receiving vote mix into the poll at No. 18 after completing a 37-24 season in 2018.
- Lewis-Clark State leads all active members with 59 total No. 1 mentions since 2000. Ten other teams have been ranked No. 1 in at least two polls: Oklahoma City (34), Faulkner (19), former member Lubbock Christian (Texas) (13), former member Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (11), Georgia Gwinnett (8), LSU Shreveport (La.) (6), former member Lee (Tenn.) (6), Cumberland (Tenn.) (6), Tennessee Wesleyan (2) and Southeastern (1).
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 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.
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2019 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Preseason (Nov. 6)
RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | 2018 RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
1 | 1 | Southeastern (Fla.) [18] | 59-7 | 498 |
2 | 2 | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | 47-16 | 470 |
3 | 3 | Georgia Gwinnett | 50-12 | 468 |
4 | 5 | Faulkner (Ala.) | 54-9 | 452 |
5 | 4 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 40-13 | 435 |
6 | 8 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 56-9 | 416 |
7 | 6 | Antelope Valley (Calif.) | 46-14-1 | 397 |
8 | 7 | Oklahoma City | 51-10 | 392 |
9 | 11 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 51-6 | 353 |
10 | 9 | University of Northwestern Ohio | 43-20 | 341 |
11 | 13 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 46-8 | 328 |
12 | 17 | Tennessee Wesleyan | 39-21 | 325 |
13 | 12 | William Jessup (Calif.) | 41-17 | 322 |
14 | 20 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 44-19 | 274 |
15 | 14 | Bryan (Tenn.) | 41-17 | 263 |
16 | 15 | Point Park (Pa.) | 47-9 | 248 |
17 | 18 | Middle Georgia State | 45-18 | 224 |
18 | RV | Webber International (Fla.) | 37-24 | 210 |
19 | 16 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 47-11 | 183 |
20 | 10 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 41-20 | 168 |
21 | 24 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 41-16 | 157 |
22 | 23 | Indiana Tech | 44-21 | 137 |
23 | RV | Bellevue (Neb.) | 38-23 | 132 |
24 | 19 | Keiser (Fla.) | 38-19 | 113 |
25 | RV | Westmont (Calif.) | 34-18 | 101 |
25 | RV | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 40-22 | 101 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Jamestown (N.D.), Mobile (Ala.), Lyon (Ark.)
Others Receiving Votes: Indiana Southeast (Ind.) 90, Mobile (Ala.) 86, Jamestown (N.D.) 71, Texas Wesleyan 49, Missouri Baptist 40, Cumberland (Tenn.) 18, Clarke (Iowa) 15, Tabor (Kan.) 11, Indiana Wesleyan 9, Madonna (Mich.) 8, Judson (Ill.) 8, Mayville State (N.D.) 7, Point (Ga.) 3
Source: http://www.naia.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27900&ATCLID=211779286