2016-17 NAIA Men's Golf Coaches' Top 25 Poll - No. 5 (April 7)

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)
RANK | LAST^ | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | TOTAL POINTS |
1 | 1 | Oklahoma City (20) | 560 |
2 | 2 | Texas Wesleyan | 542 |
3 | 3 | Dalton State (Ga.) | 522 |
4 | 4 | Keiser (Fla.) | 509 |
5 | 5 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 486 |
6 | 6 | Johnson & Wales (Fla.) | 470 |
7 | 8 | Northwestern Ohio | 436 |
8 | 9 | William Woods (Mo.) | 427 |
9 | 11 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 419 |
10 | 10 | Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) | 403 |
11 | 12 | British Columbia | 369 |
12 | 13 | William Jessup (Calif.) | 367 |
13 | 14 | Arizona Christian | 339 |
14 | 7 | USC Beaufort (S.C.) | 337 |
15 | 20 | Taylor (Ind.) | 295 |
16 | 16 | Mount Mercy (Iowa) | 287 |
17 | 21 | Coastal Georgia | 282 |
18 | 17 | Victoria (B.C.) | 247 |
19 | 22 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 212 |
19 | 19 | Cardinal Stritch (Wis.) | 212 |
21 | 23 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 203 |
22 | 15 | Grand View (Iowa) | 201 |
23 | 24 | Madonna (Mich.) | 157 |
24 | NR | Webber International (Fla.) | 117 |
25 | 25 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 116 |
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)