For the second-straight poll, William Penn (Iowa) claims the No. 1 ranking in the fourth regular-season edition of the 2017-18 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, announced Tuesday by the national office. Winners of nine games in-a-row, the Statesmen stand 20-1 on the season.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
- William Penn (Iowa) was the unanimous first-place team with all nine top mentions.
The Statesmen collected 219 total points.
- This is the second-ever top ranking for William Penn. Overall, the team has been ranked in each of the last 26-straight polls.
- William Penn ranks No. 1 in the NAIA in four statistical categories including scoring offense (105.3).
- The Statesmen are scheduled to play Mount Mercy (Iowa) in their next outing on Wednesday.
- William Penn is one of three programs in the NAIA with just one loss; No. 2 The Master's (Calif.) and No. 3 Columbia (Mo.) are the others.
- Both Columbia and The Master's boast the most wins with 21.
- Defending national champion Texas Wesleyan is the lone newcomer this week. The Rams were last ranked in the Preseason Top 25 in the No. 1 slot. Since a 6-6 start on the year, Texas Wesleyan has won eight of its last nine contests.
- There have been 38 different teams since 2000 to hold the No. 1 position. Former NAIA member Mountain State (W.Va.) leads the all-time charts with 48 all-time No. 1 rankings, followed by NAIA Division II member Robert Morris (Ill.) with 24. Georgetown is next with 16, former member Concordia (Calif.) at 12, LSU Alexandria (La.) and former member Cal State San Marcos at 11 and Columbia (Mo.) at nine No. 1 recognitions.
- Robert Morris, now a NAIA Division II member in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC), is the only program to start and end a season ranked No. 1, doing so during the 2006 – 07 season.
Poll Methodology:
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and 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 ratings) 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 appears on.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes"
- Frequency of polls occur bi-weekly. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) beginning in the 2016-17 academic season. This change will allow raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work in between rating periods.
- For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here