Oct. 31, 2007

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) finished last year as the No. 1 team and begins 2007-08 with the same status as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Men's Basketball Division II Preseason Top 25 Coaches' Poll was announced today (Oct. 31). MidAmerica earned 14 first-place votes and 506 total points. MNU defeated Mayville State (N.D.) 78-60 in last year's National Championship.

MNU will be led by NAIA First Team All-American and Heart of America Conference Player of the Year, Adam Hepker.

A semifinal participant, Northwestern (Iowa), is picked at No. 2 after a 26-9 record. Northwestern received the other three first-place votes. No. 3 Warner Pacific (Ore.), Nov. 4 Cedarville (Ohio) and No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan follow Northwestern.

The first regular season Top 25 poll is scheduled to be released Dec. 5.

2007 NAIA Men's Basketball Preseason Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll - Oct. 31 (Preseason)

RANK	LAST YEAR*	SCHOOL	1st PLACE VOTES	2006-07 RECORD	TOTAL POINTS
1	2	MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)	14	29-2	506
2	11	Northwestern (Iowa)	3	26-9	493
3	5	Warner Pacific (Ore.)	0	28-6	474
4	12	Cedarville (Ohio)	0	21-6	455
5	10	Indiana Wesleyan	0	30-5	422
T6	19	Evangel (Mo.)	0	20-12	407
T6	7	Walsh (Ohio)	0	24-5	407
8	NR	Jamestown (N.D.)	0	19-11	395
9	NR	Florida Memorial	0	16-13	365
10	NR	Southwestern (Kan.)	0	23-7	348
11	8	Oregon Tech	0	28-5	327
12	9	Sioux Falls (S.D.)	0	28-5	314
13	NR	Grace (Ind.)	0	23-12	270
14	NR	Notre Dame (Ohio)	0	19-14	251
15	NR	Northwood (Fla.)	0	23-9	249
16	NR	Benedictine (Kan.)	0	20-10	231
17	1	Bellevue (Neb.)	0	32-2	224
18	NR	Eastern Oregon	0	23-8	223
19	13	Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio)	0	25-7	176
20	NR	Friends (Kan.)	0	20-12	158
21	25	King (Tenn.)	0	23-11	146
22	22	Aquinas (Mich.)	0	22-11	137
T23	21	Ozarks (Mo.)	0	22-11	135
T23	20	William Penn (Iowa)	0	25-9	135
25	NR	Morningside (Iowa)	0	19-13	118

Others Receiving Votes:  

Asbury (Ky.) 97; Calumet St. Joseph (Ind.) 83; Menlo (Calif.) 73; Embry-Riddle (Fla.) 68; Bethel (Ind.) 67; Point Park (Pa.) 41; Minot State (N.D.) 40; The College of Idaho (Albertson) 13; Bluefield (Va.) 12; Hastings (Neb.) 10; Indiana Tech 10; Holy Names (Calif.) 9; Dordt (Iowa) 4; Mayville State (N.D.) 4; Mount Mercy (Iowa) 4; Montreat (N.C.) 3; Madonna (Mich.) 1

 

* Final seeding heading into the Division II Championship