Sean Tate is one of the Dalton State seniors to be honored Saturday
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Talladega (Ala.) continues it supremacy of the 2014 - 15 NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. In the ninth regular-season edition, the Tornadoes are ranked No. 1 for the second-straight week with seven first-place votes and 248 total points. Behind the NAIA’s longest active winning streak at 19-games (at time of rankings period), Talladega holds an overall 24-3 log.
Behind the offense of Brandon Peters, the Tornadoes rank fourth in Division I in scoring margin (+18.3) and sixth in field goal percentage (.498). With 19.6 points per game and a 53.8 shooting percentage, Peters sits in the top-25 nationally in both of those categories. Talladega closes out the regular-season with road games at Southern-New Orleans (La.) on Saturday and Tougaloo (Miss.) on March 2. The last loss on the year occurred on Nov. 21, 2014 against NAIA Division II member Briar Cliff (Iowa).
The rest of the teams within the top-six hold their position from last week: No. 2 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), No. 3 Pikeville (Ky.), No. 4 (tie) Cal State San Marcos, No. 4 (tie) Hope International (Calif.) and No. 6 Dalton State (Ga.).
Gathering two first-place votes and 241 points, No. 2 Freed-Hardeman is 24-2 overall. The Lions have already secured their first-ever American Midwest Conference (AMC) regular-season championship and next face Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) on Saturday before entering the AMC Tournament next week.
No. 3 Pikeville garnered the remaining first-place nod with 236 total points.
Tied with Cal State San Marcos (222 points) for the No. 4 ranking, Hope International took over first-place in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) by a 0.5-game after a 72-67 win over then-No. 7 Concordia (Calif.) on Feb. 21.
After four-straight rankings, Bethel (Tenn.) (No. 22) falls out of the Top 25. Martin Methodist joins Dalton State in the Top-25. They are currently in second place in the SSAC. Faulkner and Bethel did receive votes.
All 10 conferences and Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) are represented in this week's poll. With four ranked teams, the GSAC, Mid-South Conference and Sooner Athletic Conference each claim the most out of any league.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and unaffiliated groups. The 10th regular-season Top 25 will be announced on March 2. The final regular-season edition of the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 – used to decide the at-large teams for the upcoming Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship – is scheduled for Wednesday, March 11.
Dalton State has two conference games this week at Mashburn Arena before playing next week in the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament in Montgomery, AL.
The Roadrunners (24-3 overall, 14-2 SSAC) are on a seven game win streak. They entertain Coastal Georgia Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Brewton-Parker for senior day on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
2014 – 15 NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Feb. 24
|
RANK
|
LAST WEEK
|
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)
|
2014-15 RECORD
|
TOTAL POINTS
|
|
1
|
1
|
Talladega (Ala.) (7)
|
24-3
|
248
|
|
2
|
2
|
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) (2)
|
24-2
|
241
|
|
3
|
3
|
Pikeville (Ky.) (1)
|
25-2
|
236
|
|
T4
|
T4
|
Cal State San Marcos
|
25-3
|
222
|
|
T4
|
T4
|
Hope International (Calif.)
|
24-2
|
222
|
|
6
|
6
|
Dalton State (Ga.)
|
24-3
|
210
|
|
7
|
8
|
Georgetown (Ky.)
|
23-4
|
202
|
|
8
|
7
|
Concordia (Calif.)
|
23-6
|
184
|
|
9
|
10
|
Campbellsville (Ky.)
|
23-5
|
178
|
|
10
|
13
|
Martin Methodist (Tenn.)
|
23-4
|
171
|
|
11
|
12
|
Montana Western
|
21-6
|
169
|
|
12
|
14
|
Mid-America Christian (Okla.)
|
20-8
|
164
|
|
13
|
9
|
Columbia (Mo.)
|
23-5
|
155
|
|
14
|
15
|
Wayland Baptist (Texas)
|
23-4
|
152
|
|
15
|
16
|
LSU Alexandria
|
19-3
|
150
|
|
16
|
18
|
Evangel (Mo.)
|
18-9
|
127
|
|
17
|
19
|
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas)
|
21-4
|
115
|
|
18
|
11
|
Arizona Christian
|
22-7
|
112
|
|
19
|
17
|
Benedictine (Kan.)
|
21-7
|
101
|
|
20
|
25
|
Westmont (Calif.)
|
19-8
|
98
|
|
21
|
20
|
Xavier (La.)
|
20-8
|
97
|
|
22
|
19
|
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)
|
21-7
|
87
|
|
23
|
24
|
Oklahoma City
|
15-7
|
64
|
|
24
|
RV
|
SAGU (Texas)
|
20-8
|
55
|
|
25
|
23
|
Cumberlands (Ky.)
|
19-8
|
53
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Others Receiving Votes: Philander Smith (Ark.) 38; Wiley (Texas) 32; Faulkner (Ala.) 30; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 25; Bethel (Tenn.) 21; LSU Shreveport (La.) 20; Missouri Valley 9; Carroll (Mont.) 3.