2023-24 NAIA Men’s Cross Country Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 (August 24, 2023)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After claiming the runner-up spot in the 2022 NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Championship, Milligan (Tenn.) will begin the season in the No. 1 spot in the preseason edition of the Top 25. The Buffs split first-place votes (seven apiece) with Dordt (Iowa) as Indiana Wesleyan, The Master’s (Calif.) and Oklahoma City all received first place votes and rounded-out the top five.
Rating Methodology:
- The Top 25 was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, and Unaffiliated Groupings.
- 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”
- For the complete Top 25 calendar, click HERE.
| RANK | LAST TIME | SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Milligan (Tenn.) [7] | 573 |
| 2 | 3 | Dordt (Iowa) [7] | 561 |
| 3 | 4 | Indiana Wesleyan [5] | 553 |
| 4 | 2 | The Master's (Calif.) [1] | 550 |
| 5 | 5 | Oklahoma City [1] | 515 |
| 6 | 10 | College of Idaho | 483 |
| 7 | 9 | Saint Mary (Kan.) | 470 |
| 8 | 11 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 467 |
| 9 | 13 | Eastern Oregon | 439 |
| 10 | 7 | Montreat (N.C.) | 435 |
| 11 | 14 | Taylor (Ind.) | 397 |
| 12 | 6 | Southern Oregon | 387 |
| 13 | RV | Goshen (Ind.) | 341 |
| 14 | 20 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 339 |
| 15 | 19 | Aquinas (Mich.) | 297 |
| 16 | 17 | Grace (Ind.) | 295 |
| 17 | 18 | Oregon Tech | 263 |
| 17 | 21 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 263 |
| 19 | RV | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 242 |
| 20 | 23 | Carroll (Mont.) | 184 |
| 21 | NR | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 165 |
| 22 | 12 | Huntington (Ind.) | 160 |
| 23 | RV | Benedictine (Kan.) | 154 |
| 24 | 15 | Cornerstone (Mich.) | 140 |
| 25 | NR | Doane (Neb.) | 119 |
Receiving Votes: Texas Wesleyan 110, Lawrence Tech (Mich.) 84, Southeastern (Fla.) 68, Northwest (Wash.)65, Montana Tech 51, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 46, Campbellsville (Ky.) 27, Spring Arbor (Mich.) 22, William Carey (Miss.) 20, IU East (Ind.) 18, Kansas Wesleyan 18, SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) 16, John Brown (Ark.) 14, Arizona Christian 12, Grand View (Iowa) 10, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 9, Missouri Baptist 8.
