KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Faulkner (Ala.) extends its run at the top to three-straight polls, as the Eagles claim the No. 1 ranking in the third regular-season edition of the 2018 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Tuesday. Faulkner garnered all 18 first-place votes and 498 total points.
Top 25 Highlights (information dates back to 2000)
• Faulkner owns the No. 1 ranking for the 16th time in program history.
• The Eagles enter the week coming off a successful homestand against No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett. Faulkner won two-of-three games in the series to push its record to 33-3.
• The Eagles have nine games remaining on their regular-season schedule, including a showdown with Tennessee Wesleyan on April 11.
• Two new teams joined the Top 25 – No. 23 Cumberlands (Ky.) and No. 25 Friends (Kan.). Friends
• No. 4 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) leads all active members with 60 total No. 1 mentions, dating back to 2000. Ten other teams have been ranked No. 1 in at least two polls: Oklahoma City (34), Faulkner (16), former member Lubbock Christian (Texas) (13), former member Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (11), Georgia Gwinnett (8), LSU Shreveport (La.) (6), former member Lee (Tenn.) (6), Cumberland (Tenn.) (6) and Tennessee Wesleyan (2).
• The Southern States Athletic Conference leads all leagues with four teams ranked in the Top 25 – Faulkner, No. 11 William Carey (Miss.), No. 13 Mobile (Ala.) and No. 17 Middle Georgia State.
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 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 on the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”
• The frequency of the polls is bi-weekly. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) prior to the 2016-17 academic season. This change allows raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work between rating periods.
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
2018 NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – No. 3 (April 3, 2018)
| RANK | PRVS* | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Faulkner (Ala.) (18) | 33-3 | 498 |
| 2 | 2 | Georgia Gwinnett | 26-7 | 475 |
| 3 | 3 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 40-2 | 473 |
| 4 | 5 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 24-5 | 439 |
| 5 | 7 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 34-4 | 429 |
| 6 | 4 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 31-4 | 421 |
| 7 | 8 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 27-4 | 408 |
| 8 | 6 | William Jessup (Calif.) | 33-8 | 380 |
| 9 | 10 | Oklahoma City | 27-4 | 371 |
| 10 | 9 | Bryan (Tenn.) | 28-7 | 359 |
| 11 | 11 | William Carey (Miss.) | 25-10 | 337 |
| 12 | 20 | Lyon (Ark.) | 26-7 | 293 |
| 13 | 14 | Mobile (Ala.) | 30-10 | 284 |
| 14 | 16 | Point Park (Pa.) | 25-2 | 268 |
| 15 | 12 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 27-4 | 266 |
| 16 | 13 | Keiser (Fla.) | 25-11 | 264 |
| 17 | 15 | Middle Georgia State | 28-11 | 250 |
| 18 | 17 | Antelope Valley (Calif.) | 27-9-1 | 233 |
| 19 | 18 | Texas Wesleyan | 25-7 | 220 |
| 20 | 19 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 18-9 | 192 |
| 21 | 21 | Texas A&M-Texarkana | 26-8 | 175 |
| 22 | 22 | Madonna (Mich.) | 25-7 | 163 |
| 23 | RV | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 29-3 | 145 |
| 24 | 24 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 23-8 | 133 |
| 25 | RV | Friends (Kan.) | 24-10 | 112 |
Dropped from the Top 25 Poll: Wayland Baptist (Texas) (No. 23); Cumberlands (Tenn.) (No. 25)
Others receiving votes: Westmont (Calif.) 69; Reinhardt (Ga.) 64; IU Southeast (Ind.) 54; Cumberland (Tenn.) 46; Columbia (Mo.) 32; LSU Shreveport (La.) 27; Tennessee Wesleyan 26; Webber International (Fla.) 23; University of Northwestern Ohio 6; Vanguard (Calif.) 3.
*Ranking from 2018 Poll No. 2 (March 20, 2018)
