KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Morningside Mustangs defeated the Ravens of Benedictine College (2) in the 2018 National Championship earning their first national title and the top spot in the preseason edition of the 2019 Coaches’ Top 25 poll.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 1999)
- The Mustangs, finishing the 2018 season with a perfect 15-0 record claim all 16 first place votes.
- The Benedictine Ravens claim the No. 2 spot, prior to the 2018 post-season poll, the last time the Ravens were as high as No. 2 in the poll was on Sept. 24, 2002.
- Southern Oregon and Montana Western are new to the preseason poll. Neither received votes in the post-season edition back on Dec. 18, 2018.
- No. 15 College of Idaho made the largest jump, moving seven spots from its No. 22 ranking in 2018 post-season poll.
- Carroll (Mont.) owns the most No. 1-rankings with 57, followed by former NAIA member Sioux Falls (S.D.) (55) Morningside (29), Georgetown (Ky.) (25) and Marian (22).
- Morningside holds the longest active streak with 150-straight Top 25 mentions.
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences.
- Each conference is given one rater for every four schools in the league.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 25 points for each first-place vote, 24 for second-place and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) 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 appear on.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes.”
- For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
| RANK | PREVIOUS | SCHOOL | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Morningside (Iowa) [16] | 15-0 | 366 |
| 2 | 2 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 13-2 | 352 |
| 3 | 2 | Saint Francis (Ind.) | 10-3 | 338 |
| 4 | 4 | Kansas Wesleyan | 13-1 | 307 |
| 5 | 7 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 9-4 | 300 |
| 6 | 6 | Concordia (Mich.) | 10-3 | 280 |
| 7 | 9 | Marian (Ind.) | 10-1 | 278 |
| 8 | 5 | Baker (Kan.) | 9-3 | 268 |
| 9 | 8 | Dickinson State (N.D.) | 9-3 | 230 |
| 10 | 11 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 9-2 | 224 |
| 11 | 12 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 9-2 | 214 |
| 12 | 15 | Grand View (Iowa) | 8-3 | 185 |
| 13 | 18 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 7-3 | 182 |
| 14 | 14 | Langston (Okla.) | 9-2 | 171 |
| 15 | 22 | College of Idaho | 6-5 | 164 |
| 16 | 12 | Bethel (Tenn.) | 10-2 | 161 |
| 17 | 10 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 10-1 | 157 |
| 18 | 17 | Evangel (Mo.) | 9-2 | 136 |
| 19 | 21 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 7-3 | 88 |
| 20 | NR | Southern Oregon | 6-4 | 82 |
| 21 | 19 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 7-3 | 78 |
| 22 | 20 | Ottawa (Kan.) | 8-2 | 70 |
| 23 | 16 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 8-4 | 66 |
| 24 | 23 | Dordt (Iowa) | 7-3 | 32 |
| 25 | NR | Montana Western | 6-4 | 27 |
Others Receiving Votes: Siena Heights (Mich.) 25, Cumberland (Tenn.) 22, William Penn (Iowa) 20, Eastern Oregon 18, Montana Tech 9, Ottawa (Ariz.) 9, Arizona Christian 6, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 5, Ave Maria (Fla.) 5
