By: Chad Waller, Director of Communications and Sports Information

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the fourth-straight edition, Oklahoma City lands the No. 1 position in the 2016 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, announced Tuesday by the national office. The seventh regular-season Top 25 edition will be announced May 3.

The official announcement of the 40 national championship opening round qualifiers will occur Tuesday, May 10 via live selection show.

Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
• Oklahoma City notched all 19 first-place votes to become the first team this year during the regular-season to be the unanimous top-ranked team.
• The Stars, with 529 total points this week, is the first NAIA team to reach 50 wins. Standing with a 52-1 record entering the week, Oklahoma City has now hit the 50-win threshold in each of the last four seasons.
• Oklahoma City ranks No. 1 in eight national statistical categories, including tops in home runs per game (1.2), RBIs per game (7.8), team ERA (0.870) and slugging percentage (.630).
• Oklahoma City carries a 23-game win streak into its final regular-season week with six games scheduled on the docket. The Stars are currently in first place in the Sooner Athletic Conference with a one-game lead over No. 3 St. Gregory’s (Okla.).
• The rest of the teams in the Top 8 positions all stayed intact from last week: No. 2 Auburn Montgomery (Ala.), No. 3 St. Gregory’s, No. 4 Campbellsville (Ky.), No. 5 Saint Xavier (Ill.), No. 6 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), No. 7 Simpson (Calif.) and No. 8 William Carey (Miss.).
• No. 9 LSU Alexandria (La.) jumps back in the top 10 after a one-week hiatus. The Generals have now been in the top 10 in 24-of-the-last-25 weeks.
• Four teams all enjoyed a two-spot improvement, which is the highest jump this week.
• No. 23 Oregon Tech dropped down four positions for the largest tumble down in the Top 25.
• No. 24 Park (Mo.) and No. 25 Friends (Kan.) are newcomers this week. Park is the ranked for the first time since April 1, 2014 (No. 17), while Friends was recognized earlier this year.
• Oklahoma City leads all active schools with 118-straight rankings, falling no lower than 18th during that stretch, which goes back to the start of the 2004 season. William Carey is second with 81-consecutive mentions. Next in line for consecutive streaks is Auburn Montgomery at 47-straight; St. Gregory’s at 45 and Lindsey Wilson at 42.
• Former member California Baptist tops the charts of most all-time No. 1 mentions with 46. Oklahoma City is second all-time with 32, followed by former member Concordia (Calif.) with 24, Simon Fraser (B.C.) with 18 and Thomas (Ga.) with 13.
• For the first time this year, all 19 conferences are represented in the poll this week.
• The Southern States Athletic Conference leads all leagues with three schools represented: Auburn Montgomery, No. 8 William Carey and No. 12 Martin Methodist (Tenn.). Overall, five conferences send multiple schools into the Top 25.
• Through seven polls this year (including Preseason), there have been 40 different ranked teams.

Poll Methodology
• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the 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”
• For the complete calendar of 2016 Top 25 Polls, click here.

2016 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – April 26 (No. 6)

Dropped from rankings: No. 23 Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.), No. 25 Grand View (Iowa).

Others Receiving Votes: Menlo (Calif.) 66; Indiana Wesleyan 63; Brenau (Ga.) 59; Evangel (Mo.) 44; Williams Baptist (Ark.) 40; Corban (Ore.) 24; Madonna (Mich.) 15; Science & Arts (Okla.) 15; Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) 13; Grand View (Iowa) 12; Vanguard (Calif.) 12; Doane (Neb.) 5; Indiana Southeast 5; Webber International (Fla.) 4; Ottawa (Kan.) 4; Georgetown (Ky.) 3.