2008-09 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Preseason Top 25 Coaches' Poll Announced
Oct. 27, 2008
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Oklahoma City tops the 2008-09 NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Preseason Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, announced today (Oct. 27). The two-time defending champions earned six of the possible 11 first-place votes and 273 total points to begin the year No. 1. The Stars are under the direction of OCU rookie head coach Kevin Morrissey. He has a tall task ahead as 80 percent of the scoring is gone, including NAIA First Team All-American Ollie Bailey, from the 31-7 team from a year ago.
Robert Morris (Ill.) checks in at No. 2, just four points behind OCU with 269 total votes. The Eagles notched three first-place votes. RMC finished 28-4 last year and head coach Al Bruehl is expecting big things from transfer, DeAndre Thomas, who arrives from Indiana. No. 3 Mountain State (W.V.) is the national runners-up and went 34-3 last season. The prize recruit, according to head coach Bob Bolen, is St. Petersburg (Fla.) Community College transfer, Marcus Hunter, who averaged around 23 points last year. No. 4 Lee (Tenn.) amassed 245 total points in the poll while No. 5 California Baptist rounded out the Top 5 with 244 points.
Georgetown (Ky.), the team that was No. 1 in the 2007-08 final regular season poll, begins the campaign at No. 6 and earning one first-place nod.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and independents. The first regular season Top 25 poll will be announced on Monday, Dec. 1.
For more information on NAIA men’s basketball, please click here.
NOTES: Two teams that appear in the polls that switched from Division II to Division I this season – No. 16 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) and No. 24 Evangel (Mo.)… The Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) transitioned from Division II to Division I… Oklahoma City started out last season as the No. 1 team ranked in the 2007-08 Preseason Poll (Oct. 31).
2008 NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Top 25 Coaches’ Poll – (Oct. 27 - Preseason)
RANK | LAST YEAR | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2007-08 RECORD* | TOTAL POINTS |
1 | 7 | Oklahoma City University (6) | 31-7 | 273 |
2 | 8 | Robert Morris College (Ill.) (3) | 28-4 | 269 |
3 | 5 | Mountain State University (W.Va.) (1) | 34-3 | 260 |
4 | 2 | Lee University (Tenn.) | 33-2 | 245 |
5 | 13 | California Baptist University | 24-9 | 244 |
6 | 1 | Georgetown College (Ky.) (1) | 35-1 | 237 |
7 | 17 | Oklahoma Baptist University | 24-10 | 212 |
8 | 4 | Louisiana State University-Shreveport | 31-3 | 205 |
T9 | 10 | McKendree University (Ill.) | 27-7 | 200 |
T9 | 6 | Concordia University (Calif.) | 28-5 | 200 |
11 | T19 | University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) | 20-14 | 192 |
12 | RV | Union University (Tenn.) | 18-13 | 191 |
13 | RV | Westminster College (Utah) | 20-7 | 172 |
14 | 3 | Lambuth University (Tenn.) | 30-4 | 146 |
15 | 18 | Texas Wesleyan University | 20-11 | 145 |
16 | NR | MidAmerica Nazarene University (Kan.) | 31-5 | 143 |
17 | 12 | Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) | 24-11 | 136 |
18 | RV | Campbellsville University (Ky.) | 27-10 | 127 |
19 | RV | Cumberland University (Tenn.) | 21-11 | 122 |
20 | NR | Rogers State University (Okla.) | 20-11 | 103 |
21 | 14 | Auburn University Montgomery (Ala.) | 19-9 | 101 |
22 | 21 | Lewis-Clark State College (Idaho) | 22-10 | 83 |
23 | RV | University of Illinois at Springfield | 22-10 | 66 |
24 | NR | Evangel University (Mo.) | 27-6 | 61 |
25 | 24 | Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) | 17-15 | 54 |
Others receiving votes:
Martin Methodist College (Tenn.) 43; Tougaloo College (Miss.) 38; Oklahoma Christian University 35; Crichton College (Tenn.) 33; Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.) 28; Langston University (Okla.) 25; Xavier University (La.) 22; Pikeville College (Ky.) 18; Rocky Mountain College (Mont.) 10; Carroll College (Mont.) 4; Saint Xavier University (Ill.) 3; Columbia College (Mo.) 1; Northwestern Oklahoma State University 1; Trevecca Nazarene University (Tenn.) 1; Freed-Hardeman University (Tenn.) 1; Lindsey Wilson College (Ky.) 1; William Jewell College (Mo.) 1; Wiley College (Texas) 1; Shorter College (Ga.) 1
* Records as submitted by schools and raters
