NAIA Communications
Brad Cygan
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Georgetown held on to its top ranking, but a steady Mid-America Christian (Okla.) and a surging Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) gained traction in the conversation for the No. 1 spot in the latest edition of the Top 25.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000)
- For the first time this season, Georgetown did not receive every first place vote. Their loss to Thomas More notwithstanding, the Tigers garnered six of the nine votes at the top of the poll.
- Georgetown dropped its first game of the season to one of the best stories of the year in Thomas More. The Saints have won their last five games in a row, four of which were against Top 25 opponents.
- Mid-America Christian (Okla.) stayed in the No. 2 spot for the third consecutive week with a 25-1 record. The Evangels further bolstered their case for top billing with a pair of wins over then No. 15 SAGU (Texas) and then No. 20 Texas Wesleyan last week.
- Lewis-Clark State may be the hottest team in the NAIA currently and made the jump two spots to No. 3 this week. The Warriors have not dropped a game since December 6 and have won 16 in a row including victories last week against No. 11 Providence (Mont.) and a very talented Montana State-Northern team.
- Westmont (Calif.) remained the top two-loss team in the country as it stayed in the No. 4 spot. The Warriors have opened a three-game lead in the Golden State Athletic Conference and has just two games remaining on its conference regular-season slate. They are scheduled to take-on No. 16 The Master’s (Calif.) on Saturday.
- Dalton State (Ga.) resides in the No. 5-spot this week after suffering just its second loss of the year against Martin Methodist (Tenn.).
- After joining the Top 25 last week at No. 18, Tougaloo (Miss.) had the most positive movement this week, up six spots to No. 12.
- Former member Mountain State (W.Va.) owns the most No. 1-rankings with 48, followed by Robert Morris (Ill.) (24) and Georgetown (23). LSU Alexandria is next on the list with 16 while former NAIA member Concordia (Calif.) is at 12.
- Georgetown owns the longest active streak in the Top 25, which is now at 75 consecutive polls.
2019-20 NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Poll 5 (February 19, 2020)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [First-Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Georgetown [6] | 24-1 | 217 |
| 2 | 2 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) [2] | 25-1 | 213 |
| 3 | 5 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) [1] | 25-1 | 204 |
| 4 | 4 | Westmont (Calif.) | 25-2 | 199 |
| 5 | 3 | Dalton State (Ga.) | 24-2 | 190 |
| 6 | 6 | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 23-3 | 185 |
| 7 | 7 | William Penn (Iowa) | 22-3 | 176 |
| 8 | 8 | LSU Alexandria (La.) | 23-4 | 169 |
| 9 | 9 | John Brown (Ark.) | 23-3 | 163 |
| 10 | 10 | Faulkner (Ala.) | 22-3 | 160 |
| 11 | 11 | Providence (Mont.) | 21-5 | 141 |
| 12 | 18 | Tougaloo (Miss.) | 21-4 | 140 |
| 13 | 15 | SAGU (Texas) | 20-4 | 134 |
| 14 | 13 | Xavier (La.) | 20-5 | 121 |
| 15 | 13 | Cumberlands | 20-6 | 119 |
| 16 | 12 | The Master’s (Calif.) | 20-6 | 104 |
| 17 | RV | Arizona Christian | 20-6 | 102 |
| 18 | RV | Thomas More | 20-6 | 92 |
| 19 | 17 | Carroll (Mont.) | 19-7 | 89 |
| 20 | RV | Menlo (Calif.) | 16-7 | 82 |
| 21 | 19 | Central Baptist (Ark.) | 18-6 | 77 |
| 22 | 16 | Loyola (La.) | 18-7 | 76 |
| T23 | 20 | Texas Wesleyan | 18-7 | 64 |
| T23 | 24 | Clarke (Iowa) | 20-7 | 64 |
| 25 | 22 | Talladega (Ala.) | 21-5 | 61 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Shawnee State (Ohio), William Carey (Miss.), William Jessup (Calif.)
Others Receiving Votes: Shawnee State (Ohio) 48, William Carey (Miss.) 34, Park (Mo.) 28, Pikeville 25, Dillard (La.) 3, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 3, William Jessup (Calif.) 3.