NAIA Communications
KANSAS CITY — Westmont and Dalton State highlighted two of the biggest movers of the week in the latest edition of the Top 25. The Warriors moved to No. 4 from No. 11 while the Roadrunners moved up to No. 6 from No. 19 in Poll No. 2. These, combined with a slew of other major movements and five newcomers to the poll, provides intrigue as calendar flips to 2020.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000)
- Georgetown (Ky.) received all nine first-place votes.
- The Tigers are a perfect 15-0 on the year after and sport the No. 2-ranked scoring offense with an average of 97.5 points per game, No. 2-ranked scoring margin with an average of 30.4 points per game and No. 2-ranked field goal defense at 37.5 percent on the year.
- Mid-America Christian (Okla.) jumped to its highest position this season at No. 2. The Evangels are a perfect 15-0 on the year and sit just seven points behind Georgetown with big wins in this ratings period over the likes of No. 10 John Brown (Ark.) and RV Wayland Baptist (Texas).
- William Penn (Iowa) is currently pacing a very competitive Heart of America Athletic Conference as it ended at No. 3. The Statesmen have just one loss to MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) back on November 20 in a 99-94 shootout on the road.
- Westmont returned to the Top 5 for the first time since January 17, 2017, when it was ranked No. 5. The last time the Warriors were ranked as high as No. 4 was on April 1, 2015 when the team was coming off an appearance in the 2015 NAIA National Championship game.
- LSU Shreveport (La.) rounded-out the Top 5, in at No. 5, on the back of a 15-2 record. The Pilots are 11-1 in their last 12 games and are ranked No. 2 in the nation in both rebounds per game (46.5) and total rebound margin (14.4)
- Carroll (Mont.) had the most positive movement this week with a 14-spot bump from No. 23 to No. 9.
- William Carey (Miss.), Shawnee State (Ohio), SAGU (Texas), Cumberlands (Ky.) and Faulkner (Ala.) are the five newcomers to the poll this week. Of this group, William Carey and Shawnee State are the only ones that had not received votes in the most previous edition.
- Former member Mountain State (W.Va.) owns the most No. 1-rankings with 48, followed by Robert Morris (Ill.) (24) and Georgetown (Ky.) (21). LSU Alexandria is next on the list with 16 while former NAIA member Concordia (Calif.) is at 12.
- Pikeville (Ky.) owns the longest active streak in the Top 25, which is now at 78 consecutive polls.
2019-20 NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Poll 3 (January 15, 2020)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [First-Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Georgetown (Ky.) [9] | 15-0 | 219 |
| 2 | 3 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | 15-0 | 212 |
| 3 | 5 | William Penn (Iowa) | 14-1 | 204 |
| 4 | 11 | Westmont (Calif.) | 17-1 | 199 |
| 5 | 6 | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 15-2 | 189 |
| 6 | 19 | Dalton State (Ga.) | 15-1 | 185 |
| 7 | 2 | The Master’s (Calif.) | 14-3 | 168 |
| 8 | 7 | Providence (Mont.) | 15-1 | 167 |
| 9 | 23 | Carroll (Mont.) | 13-3 | 166 |
| 10 | 10 | John Brown (Ark.) | 13-2 | 158 |
| 11 | 12 | LSU Alexandria (La.) | 14-4 | 142 |
| 12 | 13 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 15-1 | 141 |
| 13 | RV | Faulkner (Ala.) | 14-3 | 133 |
| 14 | 4 | Pikeville (Ky.) | 15-3 | 132 |
| 15 | 14 | Xavier (La.) | 13-4 | 122 |
| 16 | RV | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 13-4 | 110 |
| 17 | 8 | Loyola (La.) | 13-4 | 102 |
| 18 | 15 | Hope International (Calif.) | 14-3 | 94 |
| 19 | 22 | Texas Wesleyan | 12-3 | 91 |
| 20 | 24 | Talladega (Ala.) | 14-3 | 88 |
| 21 | 18 | Central Baptist (Ark.) | 11-3 | 84 |
| 22 | RV | SAGU (Texas) | 12-2 | 69 |
| 23 | 21 | Arizona Christian | 13-4 | 65 |
| 24 | NR | William Carey (Miss.) | 13-5 | 59 |
| 25 | NR | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 14-5 | 55 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Wayland Baptist (Texas), Tougaloo (Miss.), Stillman (Ala.), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Dillard (La.).
Others Receiving Votes: Tougaloo (Miss.) 52, Clarke (Iowa) 22, Stillman (Ala.) 19, Park (Mo.) 15, Dillard (La.) 13, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 11, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 7, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 4, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 3.