Kansas City, Mo. - Coming off their fifth consecutive NAIA National Tournament appearance, the Central Methodist Men's Soccer program landed at No. 12 in the NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll, which was announced by the national office Wednesday.
Other Heart programs joining Central in the national rankings include; No. 7 Missouri Valley College, No. 15 MidAmerica Nazarene, and (RV) William Penn.
The national ranking for CMU marks the 60th-straight poll the Eagles have been featured, the longest active streak in the country. Central was last unranked in September of 2017.
The program is coming off a 2022 season which saw them sweep the Heart Regular Season and Heart Tournament titles for the fourth-straight season. The Eagles finished the year with a 16-1-5 record including a 9-0-3 mark in conference play.
Central is currently riding a 46-game undefeated streak at home, with their last home defeat coming in November of 2018.
Adam Galla will begin his first year as Head Coach of the program, having been named as Central's next leader in May, 2023.
The Eagles will kick-off the 2023 regular season at home against William Woods Sunday, August 27th at 3:30 p.m. at Davis 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, 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.
| RANK | LAST | SCHOOL [FIRST PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 6 | Bethel (Ind.) [18] | 24-1-1 | 498 |
| 2 | 4 | Mobile (Ala.) | 18-4-1 | 482 |
| 3 | 20 | Rio Grande (Ohio) | 19-3-3 | 455 |
| 4 | 1 | Dalton State (Ga.) | 16-2-3 | 432 |
| 5 | NR | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 13-7-4 | 427 |
| 6 | 2 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | 19-2-2 | 423 |
| 7 | 11 | Missouri Valley | 15-5-1 | 413 |
| 8 | 5 | Georgia Gwinnett | 14-3-2 | 394 |
| 9 | 10 | William Carey (Miss.) | 13-3-3 | 359 |
| 9 | 9 | Keiser (Fla.) | 13-1-3 | 359 |
| 11 | 7 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 11-2-5 | 334 |
| 12 | 3 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 16-1-5 | 326 |
| 13 | 17 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 14-6-3 | 277 |
| 14 | 15 | Columbia (Mo.) | 15-4-3 | 266 |
| 15 | 8 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 14-4-3 | 251 |
| 16 | 13 | Grace (Ind.) | 11-3-6 | 236 |
| 17 | 16 | Madonna (Mich.) | 15-0-6 | 217 |
| 18 | 21 | Warner Pacific (Ore.) | 19-1-3 | 200 |
| 19 | 22 | Indiana Tech | 12-3-7 | 173 |
| 20 | 17 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 16-2-3 | 161 |
| 21 | RV | Florida National | 11-3-3 | 151 |
| 22 | 23 | Hastings (Neb.) | 16-2-2 | 150 |
| 23 | 14 | Life (Ga.) | 14-3-1 | 146 |
| 24 | RV | Bethel (Tenn.) | 12-4-3 | 126 |
| 25 | 17 | Northwestern Ohio | 14-3-4 | 110 |
Dropped From Poll: Corban (Ore.), Cumberlands (Ky.), Williams Baptist (Ark.)
Receiving Votes: Cumberlands (Ky.) 91; Columbia International (S.C.) 87; Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 68; LSU Shreveport (La.) 67; Vanguard (Calif.) 45; Indiana Wesleyan 38; WVU Tech (W.Va.) 27; Concordia (Neb.) 27; Missouri Baptist 27; William Penn (Iowa) 18; Milligan (Tenn.) 15; Ottawa (Kan.) 8; Southern Oregon 7; Cumberland (Tenn.) 3; Williams Baptist (Ark.) 3; Louisiana Christian 3; UC Merced (Calif.) 3; Science & Arts (Okla.) 3
#TakeFlight
