Kansas Wesleyan Men's Basketball is ranked No. 19 in the latest edition of the NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll released on Wednesday by the NAIA National Office.
The Coyotes moved up from the first receiving votes position to the No. 19 spot based on a 12-1 record after Saturday's win at Columbia.
It marks the first Top 25 ranking for the program since the 2007 team was ranked as high as No. 6 in the final NAIA Division II poll of the season.
The Coyotes are 12-2 overall heading into the holiday break. KWU resumes action on January 1 at Dakota State. KWU returns home on January 5 vs Bethany.
Thanks to an impressive 13-0 start, Loyola (La.) moved to No. 1 in the latest edition of the Top 25. The Wolfpack received all 20, first-place votes. Carroll (Mont.) and Talladega (Ala.) both jumped two spots to Nos. 2 and 3, while Oklahoma Wesleyan made a five spot jump to No. 4.
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 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. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) beginning in the 2016-17 academic season. This change will allow raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work in between rating periods.
2021-22 NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll Three (December 15, 2021)
RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
1 | 2 | Loyola (La.) [20] | 13-0 | 560 |
2 | 4 | Carroll (Mont.) | 12-0 | 538 |
3 | 5 | Talladega (Ala.) | 12-0 | 525 |
4 | 9 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 15-0 | 499 |
5 | 3 | William Penn (Iowa) | 12-1 | 477 |
6 | 8 | SAGU (Texas) | 8-1 | 467 |
7 | 13 | Grace (Ind.) | 12-0 | 466 |
8 | 23 | William Jessup (Calif.) | 12-1 | 396 |
9 | 7 | Indiana Wesleyan | 11-2 | 394 |
10 | 6 | Arizona Christian | 11-2 | 390 |
11 | 14 | Stillman (Ala.) | 8-1 | 366 |
12 | 10 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 12-2 | 351 |
13 | 16 | Thomas More (Ky.) | 9-1 | 338 |
14 | 19 | LSU Alexandria (La.) | 8-1 | 308 |
15 | 22 | Xavier (La.) | 7-1 | 286 |
16 | 11 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 8-3 | 268 |
17 | 20 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 10-1 | 259 |
18 | 15 | College of Idaho | 8-3 | 253 |
19 | RV | Kansas Wesleyan | 12-1 | 241 |
20 | RV | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 11-2 | 198 |
21 | 17 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 9-2 | 194 |
22 | 24 | Marian (Ind.) | 9-2 | 173 |
23 | RV | Concordia (Neb.) | 11-2 | 152 |
24 | RV | IU South Bend (Ind.) | 10-2 | 118 |
25 | NR | Hope International (Calif.) | 11-3 | 94 |
25 | 1 | Saint Francis (Ind.) | 10-4 | 94 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Bethel (Kan.), Morningside (Iowa), Shawnee State (Ohio), The Master's (Calif.), Morningside (Iowa)
Others Receiving Votes: Montana Tech 72, Pikeville (Ky.) 66, WVU Tech (W.Va.) 47, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 46, Bethel (Kan.) 45, Southeastern (Fla.) 40, Morningside (Iowa) 34, Florida College 27, Tennessee Wesleyan 23, Evangel (Mo.) 14, Indiana Tech 14, Menlo (Calif.) 13, Texas Wesleyan 12, Faulkner (Ala.) 6, Texas A&M Texarkana 3.
