Kansas City, Mo. - The Central Methodist Baseball program lands at No. 6 in the first edition of the NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 poll, which was announced by the national office Wednesday.
The other program from the Heart of America featured in the national rankings is No. 24 MidAmerica Nazarene.
CMU jumped 16 spots after being selected No. 22 in the preseason Top 25 poll back in November. Central has raced out to an 18-4 overall record and a 7-1 record in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
The Eagles will next host Waldorf for a three-game weekend series beginning Friday, March 14 at 1:00 p.m. at Estes Field.
To view the poll methodology and the complete Top 25 poll, please see below.
Rating Methodology
- The rating was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each rater 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"
- For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Southeastern (Fla.) [18] | 19-2 | 559 |
| 2 | 2 | Georgia Gwinnett [2] | 21-3 | 543 |
| 3 | 5 | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 19-2 | 521 |
| 4 | 12 | Webber International (Fla.) | 21-3 | 504 |
| 5 | 8 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 20-4 | 492 |
| 6 | 22 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 18-4 | 446 |
| 7 | 3 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 10-6 | 440 |
| 8 | RV | Doane (Neb.) | 14-4 | 433 |
| 9 | NR | Jessup (Calif.) | 20-4 | 425 |
| 10 | NR | Faulkner (Ala.) | 18-6 | 387 |
| 11 | 23 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 15-9 | 336 |
| 12 | NR | Keiser (Fla.) | 18-4 | 330 |
| 13 | RV | Concordia (Neb.) | 16-5 | 321 |
| 14 | 10 | Missouri Baptist | 14-7 | 313 |
| 15 | RV | Loyola (La.) | 16-6 | 284 |
| 15 | 7 | Bellevue (Neb.) | 11-9 | 284 |
| 17 | NR | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 16-8 | 266 |
| 18 | 25 | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | 19-6 | 241 |
| 19 | NR | OUAZ (Ariz.) | 19-7 | 235 |
| 20 | 11 | Hope International (Calif.) | 13-9 | 227 |
| 21 | 9 | Taylor (Ind.) | 13-9 | 190 |
| 22 | 6 | Tennessee Wesleyan | 13-9 | 158 |
| 23 | RV | British Columbia | 15-8 | 118 |
| 24 | 13 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 14-7 | 117 |
| 25 | 19 | Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) | 16-6 | 111 |
Dropped from Top 25: Ave Maria (Fla.); Concordia (Mich.); Indiana Wesleyan; Kansas Wesleyan; Mobile (Ala.); Point Park (Pa.); Texas Wesleyan; Vanguard (Calif.); William Carey (Miss.)
Receiving Votes: Milligan (Tenn.) 86; Friends (Kan.) 86; Texas Wesleyan 83; William Carey (Miss.) 57; Science & Arts (Okla.) 50; Louisiana Christian 39; Vanguard (Calif.) 25; Tabor (Kan.) 24; Kansas Wesleyan 21; Oklahoma City 19; Arizona Christian 19; Point (Ga.) 19; Mount Marty (S.D.) 17; Ave Maria (Fla.) 13; Point Park (Pa.) 10; Oregon Tech 7; Concordia (Mich.) 7; Cumberland (Tenn.) 6; The Master's (Calif.) 6; Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 5; Columbia (Mo.) 4; Thomas (Ga.) 4; Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 3; Indiana Wesleyan 3
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