2019-20 NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll
Oct 23, 2019
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) opens the new season at No. 1 in the 2019-20 NAIA DI Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
- The Lions are ranked at No. 1 for the 33rd time in history. The team garnered five of the eight No. 1 rankings during the 2018-19 season.
- New to the Top 25: No. 12 Central Methodist (Mo.), No. 17 Providence (Mont.), No. 19 Clarke (Iowa), No. 21 Thomas More (Ky.), No. 23 LSU Alexandria. Providence, Clarke and LSUA were all receiving votes in the 2019-20 final poll.
- Only three teams remained at the same rank as the 2018-19 final poll: No. 1 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), No. 2 Campbellsville (Ky.) and No. 8 Westmont (Calif.)
- Oklahoma City and Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) made the largest jumps up in the poll after moving seven and six spots respectively.
- Oklahoma City holds the longest active streak in the Top 25 with 254 total appearances dating back to the 1997-98 school year.
- Union (Tenn.) and Vanguard (Calif.) are the only programs to have spent an entire season ranked No. 1 (Union: 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11) (Vanguard: 2005-06, 2006-07).
- Union (Tenn.) leads all NAIA schools with 59 No. 1 rankings. Oklahoma City is second with 50 and Vanguard (Calif.) is third with 45.
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, Association of Independent Institutions and Unaffiliated Groups.
- 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 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 team appears on.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes.”
2019-20 NAIA Division I Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll
| RANK | LAST TIME | SCHOOL [FIRST PLACE VOTES] | 2019 RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) [6] | 34-3 | 217 |
| 2 | 2 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 33-3 | 207 |
| 3 | 10 | Oklahoma City [1] | 33-5 | 201 |
| 4 | 5 | The Master's (Calif.) | 28-7 | 199 |
| 5 | 7 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 29-6 | 187 |
| 6 | 12 | Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) [1] | 28-7 | 178 |
| 7 | 6 | Carroll (Mont.) | 26-8 | 173 |
| 8 | 8 | Westmont (Calif.) [1] | 24-8 | 171 |
| 9 | 3 | Columbia (Mo.) | 29-4 | 163 |
| 10 | 13 | Vanguard (Calif.) | 22-10 | 153 |
| 11 | 14 | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 25-10 | 148 |
| 12 | NR | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 20-12 | 145 |
| 13 | 16 | Talladega (Ala.) | 28-6 | 133 |
| 14 | 10 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 25-6 | 129 |
| 15 | 17 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 23-11 | 101 |
| 16 | 15 | Bethel (Tenn.) | 28-6 | 100 |
| 17 | RV | Providence (Mont.) (Mont.) | 18-14 | 99 |
| 18 | 20 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 20-13 | 95 |
| 19 | RV | Clarke (Iowa) | 23-12 | 94 |
| 20 | 18 | Lyon (Ark.) | 25-8 | 89 |
| 21 | NR | Thomas More (Ky.) | 32-0 | 76 |
| 22 | 19 | Menlo (Calif.) | 20-10 | 72 |
| 23 | RV | LSU Alexandria (La.) | 22-8 | 65 |
| 24 | 22 | Loyola (La.) | 26-7 | 60 |
| 25 | 9 | William Penn (Iowa) | 30-3 | 54 |
Receiving Votes: Lewis-Clark (Idaho) 49, Xavier (La.) 43, Montana Western 31, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 26, Georgetown (Ky.) 23, Science & Arts of Oklahoma 17, Pikeville (Ky.) 10, William Jessup (Calif.) 3
