By: Chad Waller, Director of Communications and Sports Information

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the first time all year, there are no newcomers in the 2016 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, announced Tuesday by the national office. No. 1-ranked Oklahoma City again lands on top of the list for the fifth-straight week. The final regular-season Top 25 edition will be announced May 10 at 6 p.m. CDT.

The official announcement of the 40 national championship opening round qualifiers and opening round brackets will occur Tuesday, May 10 via live selection show. The show will be on NAIA.org at 6 p.m. CDT.

Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
• No new teams entered into the Top 25, which marked the first time all year.
• The unanimous No. 1 selection with 16 first-place votes, Oklahoma City holds the most wins in the NAIA with a 54-1 mark (entering the week). The Stars have now reached the 50-win threshold in each of the last four seasons.
• After a doubleheader against Mid-America Christian (Okla.) to close out the regular season, Oklahoma City will head into the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) championship on Thursday as the No. 1 seed. The Stars enter that Tuesday twin bill on a 25-game win streak.
• Oklahoma City ranks No. 1 in six national statistical categories, including tops in home runs per game (1.2), total runs scored (492), team ERA (0.840) and slugging percentage (.630).
• The Stars are already one of 20 programs to punch a ticket to the NAIA Softball National Championship Opening Round, by virtue of serving as Opening Round host. To track all of the conference qualifying tournaments, click HERE.
• Two-time defending national champion Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) gathered 420 points to capture the No. 2 position.
• Fellow SAC member St. Gregory’s (Okla.) holds the No. 3 position with 405 points.
• No. 4 Campbellsville (Ky.) collected 398 points and No. 5 Saint Xavier (Ill.) posted 373 points.
• There were only two teams in the Top 25 that shifted positions from last week – No. 14 Reinhardt (Ga.) and No. 15 Morningside (Iowa). They flip-flopped their spots.
• Oklahoma City leads all active schools with 119-straight rankings, falling no lower than 18th during that stretch, which goes back to the start of the 2004 season. William Carey (Miss.) is second with 82-consecutive mentions. Next in line for consecutive streaks is Auburn Montgomery at 48-straight; St. Gregory’s at 46 and Lindsey Wilson at 43.
• Former member California Baptist tops the charts of most all-time No. 1 mentions with 46. Oklahoma City is second all-time with 33, followed by former member Concordia (Calif.) with 24, Simon Fraser (B.C.) with 18 and Thomas (Ga.) with 13.
• For the second 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 eight 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 – May 3 (No. 7)

Dropped from rankings: None

Others Receiving Votes: Grand View (Iowa) 41; Menlo (Calif.) 37; Brenau (Ga.) 28; Williams Baptist (Ark.) 24; Corban (Ore.) 20; Valley City State (N.D.) 17; Indiana Wesleyan 17; Huntington (Ind.) 17; Madonna (Mich.) 13; Doane (Neb.) 7; Science & Arts (Okla.) 7; Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) 7; Ottawa (Kan.) 6; Jamestown (N.D.) 3.