Science & Arts claim top spot in first NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Science & Arts (Okla) surpassed fellow Sooner Athletic Conference member, Oklahoma City, for the No. 1 spot in the first NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll of the regular season. The Drovers (17-0) have opended the season undefeated and earned 529 points this week.

Five teams joined the Top 25 this week, including No. 13 USC Beaufort, No. 18 Lyon, No. 19 Baker, No. 20 Houston-Victoria and No. 24 Warner. Valley City (17-1) made the biggest jump in the is week’s poll, catapulting 14 spots to No. 11.

The bi-weekly poll is voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Association of Independent Institutions.

RANK PRESEASON RANK SCHOOL RECORD FINAL POINTS 1 2 Science & Arts (Okla.) 17-0 529 2 1 Oklahoma City 20-2 509 3 3 Southern Oregon 17-4 494 4 5 Georgia Gwinnett 21-5 468 5 6 Marian (Ind.) 4-0 449 6 8 Mobile (Ala.) 15-4 443 7 9 Hope International (Calif.) 21-4 427 8 13 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 10-0 383 9 10 Oregon Tech 18-6 375 10 7 Indiana Wesleyan 15-5 369 11 25 Valley City State (N.D.) 17-1 334 12 14 Vanguard (Calif.) 15-3 333 13 NR USC Beaufort (S.C.) 19-3 307 14 16 Corban (Ore.) 14-4 305 15 17 William Carey (Miss.) 9-3 298 16 11 Campbellsville (Ky.) 10-3 284 17 20 Truett-McConnell (Ga.) 15-5 264 18 NR Lyon (Ark.) 15-4 215 19 NR Baker (Kan.) 10-3 211 20 NR Houston-Victoria (Texas) 11-3 191 21 23 Midland (Neb.) 3-1 178 22 12 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 5-2 168 23 15 St. Francis (Ill.) 8-4 166 24 NR Warner (Fla.) 14-3 131 25 24 Jamestown (N.D.) 16-6 101  

DROPPED OUT: Columbia (Mo.), Grand View (Iowa), Faulkner (Ala.), Central Methodist (Mo.)

RECEIVING VOTES: LSU Alexandria (La.) 85, Columbia (Mo.) 72, Brenau (Ga.) 67, Grand View (Iowa) 60, College of Idaho 36, Faulkner (Ala.) 32, Simpson (Calif.) 25, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 19, Central Methodist (Mo.) 16, University of Northwestern (Ohio) 13, Cumberland (Tenn.) 9, Rio Grande (Ohio) 8, McPherson (Kan.) 6, Webber International (Fla.) 5, Morningside (Iowa) 3, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 3