Kansas City, Mo. - For the first time in program history, the Central Methodist Women's Basketball team landed at No. 1 in the Final NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 poll, announced by the national office Wednesday.
CMU received all 21 first place votes en route to the No. 1 ranking. The Eagles jump to the top spot after holding strong at No. 2 for the last three polls.
Central is currently the only undefeated team in the NAIA at 29-0, which includes a perfect 22-0 mark in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
CMU is averaging 84.9 points/game and have outscored their opponents by at least 18 points in their last seven contests.
The Eagles clinched their fifth conference championship in program history during the regular season, and will look for the sweep as they are in pursuit of the conference tournament title.
CMU faces off against No. 5 seeded Culver-Stockton College in the semifinals of the Heart tournament Friday, Feb. 24 at 7:00 p.m. inside Puckett Field House.
To view the poll methodology and the complete Top 25 poll, please see below.
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, Independents 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 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 team appears on.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes."
| RANK | LAST TIME | SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Central Methodist (Mo.) [21] | 28-0 | 591 |
| 2 | 3 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 27-1 | 572 |
| 3 | 1 | Thomas More (Ky.) | 26-2 | 551 |
| 4 | 4 | Dordt (Iowa) | 26-2 | 524 |
| 5 | 7 | Indiana Wesleyan | 25-3 | 510 |
| 6 | 5 | Westmont (Calif.) | 23-2 | 509 |
| 7 | 8 | Clarke (Iowa) | 25-3 | 459 |
| 8 | 6 | Marian (Ind.) | 24-4 | 443 |
| 9 | 9 | Loyola (La.) | 25-1 | 440 |
| 10 | 10 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 26-2 | 430 |
| 11 | 11 | Carroll (Mont.) | 23-5 | 422 |
| 12 | 13 | Rio Grande (Ohio) | 25-3 | 356 |
| 12 | 14 | Eastern Oregon | 26-2 | 356 |
| 14 | 12 | Vanguard (Calif.) | 21-5 | 350 |
| 15 | 15 | Montana Western | 24-4 | 337 |
| 16 | 16 | Indiana Tech | 24-4 | 316 |
| 17 | 17 | Texas Wesleyan | 24-4 | 263 |
| 18 | 23 | Briar Cliff (Iowa) | 21-7 | 249 |
| 19 | 25 | Pikeville (Ky.) | 21-7 | 234 |
| 20 | 21 | Sterling (Kan.) | 24-4 | 199 |
| 21 | 20 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 22-6 | 190 |
| 22 | 24 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | 23-5 | 179 |
| 23 | 19 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 21-7 | 174 |
| 24 | NR | Dakota State (S.D.) | 23-5 | 161 |
| 25 | 18 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 23-5 | 133 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Rocky Mountain (Mont.)
Receiving Votes: Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 115, IU South Bend (Ind.) 71, Southern Oregon 57, Menlo (Calif.) 50, Texas A&M Texarkana 41, Rust (Miss.) 32, Bryan (Tenn.) 23, Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 21, Faulkner (Ala.) 10, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 7, Midway (Ky.) 7, Philander Smith (Ark.) 3, LSU Shreveport (La.) 3, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 3, Hope International (Calif.) 3, Grace (Ind.) 3
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