KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Faulkner (Ala.) owns the No. 1 ranking in the first regular-season edition of the NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. The Eagles claimed all 18 first-place votes and 498 total points.
Top 25 Highlights (information dates back to 2000)
• Faulkner rests in the No. 1 spot for the 14th time in program history.
• The Eagles are 20-0 on the young season and are the only undefeated team remaining in NAIA baseball.
• Faulkner returns to the diamond tomorrow against Tennessee Wesleyan before traveling to No. 14 Mobile (Ala.) for a three-game series over the weekend.
• Eleven new teams joined the Top 25 – No. 7 William Jessup (Calif.), No. 11 Bryan (Tenn.), No. 12 Wayland Baptist (Texas), Mobile, No. 16 Jamestown (N.D.), No. 17 Antelope Valley (Calif.), No. 20 William Woods (Mo.), No. 21 Texas A&M-Texarkana, No. 22 Point Park (Pa.), No. 23 Reinhardt (Ga.) and No. 24 Vanguard (Calif.).
• No. 6 Lewis-Clark State leads all active members with 60 total No. 1 mentions, dating back to 2000. Ten other teams have been ranked No. 1 in at least two polls: Oklahoma City (34), Faulkner (14), 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) and Tennessee Wesleyan (2).
• The Southern States Athletic Conference and the Sooner Athletic Conference both have four teams represented in the poll, which is the most among sponsoring conferences.
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.
2018 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 1
| RANK | PRVS* | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Faulkner (Ala.) (18) | 20-0 | 498 |
| 2 | 12 | Georgia Gwinnett | 17-2 | 476 |
| 3 | 4 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 21-2 | 453 |
| 4 | 3 | Oklahoma City | 13-2 | 447 |
| 5 | 5 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 16-2 | 432 |
| 6 | 1 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 11-3 | 431 |
| 7 | NR | William Jessup (Calif.) | 22-5 | 379 |
| 8 | 6 | William Carey (Miss.) | 16-4 | 377 |
| 9 | 21 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 16-3 | 376 |
| 10 | 11 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 13-1 | 364 |
| 11 | RV | Bryan (Tenn.) | 17-2 | 360 |
| 12 | NR | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 15-2 | 308 |
| 13 | 10 | Keiser (Fla.) | 13-5 | 300 |
| 14 | NR | Mobile (Ala.) | 17-4 | 297 |
| 15 | 15 | Middle Georgia State | 17-6 | 239 |
| 16 | RV | Jamestown (N.D.) | 13-1 | 193 |
| 17 | RV | Antelope Valley (Calif.) | 14-8 | 180 |
| 18 | 23 | Texas Wesleyan | 12-4 | 169 |
| 19 | 20 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 10-7 | 167 |
| 20 | NR | William Woods (Mo.) | 16-5 | 161 |
| 21 | NR | Texas A&M-Texarkana | 13-2 | 158 |
| 22 | NR | Point Park (Pa.) | 10-1 | 154 |
| 23 | NR | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 14-4 | 131 |
| 24 | NR | Vanguard (Calif.) | 14-11 | 128 |
| 25 | 24 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 11-4 | 122 |
Others receiving votes: Cumberland (Tenn.) 107; Madonna (Mich.) 103; University of Northwestern Ohio 88; Taylor (Ind.) 63; The Master’s (Calif.) 48; Webber International (Fla.) 41; Tabor (Kan.) 40; LSU Shreveport (La.) 25; Concordia (Mich.) 18; IU Southeast (Ind.) 17; Lyon (Ark.) 13; Avila (Mo.) 9; Georgetown (Ky.) 6; Westmont (Calif.) 4; Blue Mountain (Miss.) 4; Cumberlands (Ky.) 3; Tennessee Wesleyan 3.
