2018 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll — No. 1

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.

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