By Trevor Lininger, NAIA Athletic Communications and Media Intern

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Following its first championship in program history, Wayland Baptist (Texas) claims the No. 1 spot in the NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Postseason Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday. The Pioneers captured the title on Dec. 2 with a 1-0 victory against Missouri Valley in double overtime.

Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):

• Wayland Baptist captures all 16 first-place votes and a total of 436 points to earn the program’s first ever No. 1 ranking.
  
• The Pioneers entered the NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship unseeded and defeated the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds to claim the championship.
  
• National runner-up Missouri Valley comes in at No. 2, a spot the Vikings held three other times this year. Uros Ilic of Missouri Valley was honored as the National Player of the Year.
  
• Oklahoma Wesleyan slides down one spot from the previous poll to No. 3. The Eagles landed five individuals on the NAIA All-America Teams.
  
• Marymount California moves up 13 spots to No. 4 following a semifinal appearance at the national championship.
  
• Rounding out the postseason top 5 is William Carey (Miss.). The Crusaders held the top spot for seven-straight weeks, the most of any team in 2017.
  
• Four teams join the Top 25 in this week’s poll: No. 14 Cardinal Stritch (Wis.), No. 22 Truett-McConnell (Ga.), No. 23 Westmont (Calif.) and No. 24 UC Merced.
  
• 10 teams maintained a spot in the Top 25 ranking each of the 12 polls.
  
• Rio Grande (Ohio) currently holds the record for the most No. 1 rankings all-time with 57 total.
  
• No. 9 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) holds the record for the longest consecutively-ranked active school at 117-straight polls, dating back to the first installment of the Top 25 in 2007. Rio Grande (Ohio) is second on the list with 108-straight polls.

Poll Methodology

• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, Association of Independent Institutions and Unaffiliated Groups.
  
• 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 in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes".
  
• For the complete men’s soccer ratings calendar, click here.

2017 NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Postseason Top 25 Poll – Dec. 6

Dropped From Top 25: Dalton State (Ga.), Campbellsville (Ky.), Spring Arbor (Mich.), Bryan (Tenn.)

Others Receiving Votes: Northwestern Ohio 66; Southwestern Christian (Okla.) 65; Dalton State (Ga.) 59; Campbellsville (Ky.) 50; William Woods (Mo.) 45; Grace (Ind.) 44; Spring Arbor (Mich.) 44; Houston-Victoria (Texas) 23; Southern Oregon 19; Bryan (Tenn.) 17; Concordia (Neb.) 10; Keiser (Fla.) 7; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 7; Oklahoma City 4; Reinhardt (Ga.) 3