NAIA Communications
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After fighting its way through the toughest college basketball tournament in the nation to claim the red banner, Georgetown (Ky.) sat atop the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Rankings in the preseason edition, released on Wednesday. The Tigers enter the 2019-20 season after a year that they went 33-4.
The Master’s (Calif.) finished tied for fourth in the final poll in 2018-19, but have improved to No. 2 in the early season edition. Wayland Baptist (Texas) checked-in at No. 3, while William Penn (Iowa) made a 19-place jump from No. 23 to No. 4. Pikeville (Ky.) rounded-out the top five with 191 points.
Georgetown received all nine first-place votes. The Tigers won their third NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship in 2019. The team will open the season with an exhibition against University of Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Sunday. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.
2019-20 NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Preseason (Oct. 23, 2019)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Georgetown (Ky.) [9] | 33-4 | 219 |
| 2 | T4 | The Master’s (Calif.) | 27-6 | 210 |
| 3 | 8 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 24-8 | 199 |
| 4 | 23 | William Penn (Iowa) | 22-12 | 196 |
| 5 | 13 | Pikeville (Ky.) | 25-9 | 191 |
| 6 | 2 | LSU Alexandria (La.) | 30-4 | 187 |
| 7 | 14 | William Carey (Miss.) | 25-10 | 178 |
| 8 | 20 | Talladega (Ala.) | 24-8 | 166 |
| 9 | 3 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 31-4 | 155 |
| 10 | RV | Arizona Christian | 25-9 | 153 |
| 11 | 17 | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 23-11 | 152 |
| 12 | NR | Providence (Mont.) | 18-12 | 145 |
| 13 | RV | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 22-11 | 139 |
| 14 | 6 | Stillman (Ala.) | 27-6 | 133 |
| 15 | 10 | Vanguard (Calif.) | 25-7 | 114 |
| 16 | 21 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 21-11 | 113 |
| 17 | 24 | Loyola (La.) | 22-12 | 109 |
| 18 | RV | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | 21-13 | 105 |
| 19 | NR | Montana State-Northern | 18-14 | 87 |
| 20 | NR | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 17-14 | 82 |
| 21 | RV | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 22-10 | 76 |
| 22 | 12 | Wiley (Texas) | 24-7 | 65 |
| 23 | 7 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 30-7 | 59 |
| 24 | NR | Park (Mo.) | 20-11 | 44 |
| 25 | 19 | Peru State (Neb.) | 23-11 | 42 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Tougaloo (Miss.), Missouri Baptist, Carroll (Mont.), John Brown (Ark.), William Jessup (Calif.), Bethel (Tenn.), St. Thomas (Texas), Oklahoma City
Others Receiving Votes: Hope International (Calif.) 36, Bethel (Tenn.) 33, Xavier (La.) 31, SAGU (Texas) 22, Dillard (La.) 20, Central Baptist (Ark.) 16, Carroll (Mont.) 15, Life (Ga.) 7, Oklahoma City 5.