By Spencer Scheve, Communications & Sports Information Intern

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the seventh-straight poll, the ten-time national champions Oklahoma City capture the No. 1 spot in the fifth regular-season NAIA Men’s Golf Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Friday. Gathering all 20 first-place votes and 560 total points, the Stars are the unanimous No. 1 team in the newest edition. This is the third poll for the spring season. The final regular-season Top 25 Poll will be released Thursday, May 4. 

Top 25 highlights (historical information dates back to 1999):
• The defending national champions are again the top team in the nation as No. 1 Oklahoma City leads all programs in the newest edition of the Top 25 poll. The Stars have been in this position for seven-straight polls after winning its tenth national championship last season. 
• Texas Wesleyan maintains its No. 2 spot with 542 points. The Rams have now been ranked in the top five for the sixth-straight installments.  
• Rounding out the top five is Dalton State (Ga.), which claims the No. 3 spot with 522 points, followed by No. 4 Keiser (Fla.) with 509 points and No. 5 Wayland Baptist (Texas) with 486 points.  
• There is one new program in the Top 25 – No. 24 Webber International (Fla.). The last time Webber International was ranked came on Sept. 20, 2016, when the Warriors were No. 25.
• There are 11 teams that made positive movements this week, led by No. 15 Taylor (Ind.), which bounced up five positions from its previous rating. 
• There are 10 squads that maintained their position in the Top 25.  
• Thirteen of the 20 conferences/unaffiliated groups are represented in the ratings this week. The Sun Conference brings in the most with six teams, while the Sooner Athletic Conference welcomes three, including the No. 1 program.   
• Only two teams have gone the entire season ranked No. 1 with Oklahoma City in 2002 and 2004 and former-member Oklahoma Christian in 2008. 

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”
• The frequency of polls occur bi-weekly for the 2016-17 season.
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.

2016-17 NAIA Men’s Golf Coaches’ Top 25 Poll No. 5 – (April 7, 2017)

Dropped out of rankings: Point (Ga.)

Others receiving votes: Missouri Valley 92; Faulkner (Ala.) 75; Corban (Ore.) 56; The Master’s (Calif.) 49; Bellevue (Neb.) 44; Point Park (Pa.) 33; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 27; Marian (Ind.) 22; Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 15; Oregon Tech 11

^Based off 2017 Coaches’ Poll - No. 4 (March 24, 2017)