IU East ranked No. 9 in #NAIADIIMBB Top 25 Preseason Poll, OCU, CCU "receiving votes"
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Indiana University East is ranked No. 9 in the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll, and Ohio Christian University and Cincinnati Christian are in the 'others receiving votes' category to represent the River States Conference. The poll was released Tuesday, Oct. 25 by the NAIA office.
It's the highest preseason ranking ever for the IU East men's basketball program, which is coming off of a 22-14 season that culminated with a run to the Fab Four of the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship.
Indiana East was picked as the favorite in the River States Conference Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll Oct. 20. Picked second in the conference was Ohio Christian, which is just outside the NAIA Division II Top 25 Poll this preseason and comes in at 28th overall. Cincinnati Christian was picked third in the conference and comes in at 31st overall in the national preseason poll.
Ohio Christian was 24-10, 11-5 conference last year but was not eligible for the conference or national playoffs as a first-year NAIA member. This is OCU's first season eliglbe for those postseason opportunities.
Cincinnati Christian won the conference tournament last year and ended with a 23-9 record overall and 11-5 conference. The Eagles reached the NAIA Division II national tournament.
The University of Saint Francis (Ind.) is the No. 1 team in the preseason poll. The complete rankings are below.
2016 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll - Preseason (Oct. 25)
| RANK | LAST WEEK^ | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2016 Record | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Saint Francis (Ind.) (10) | 33-5 | 311 |
| 2 | 1 | Indiana Wesleyan (1) | 33-5 | 299 |
| 3 | 3 | Davenport (Mich.) (1) | 32-5 | 292 |
| 4 | 4 | Briar Cliff (Iowa) | 32-4 | 274 |
| 5 | 7 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 28-4 | 265 |
| 6 | 5 | Keiser (Fla.) | 28-4 | 260 |
| 7 | NR | College of Idaho | 17-13 | 245 |
| 8 | 12 | Cornerstone (Mich.) | 27-7 | 238 |
| 9 | 6 | IU East | 27-8 | 221 |
| 10 | 9 | Tabor (Kan.) | 30-4 | 214 |
| 11 | 11 | Union (Ky.) | 28-7 | 211 |
| 12 | 10 | Northwest Christian (Ore.) | 28-7 | 199 |
| 13 | 24 | Robert Morris (Ill.) | 24-10 | 189 |
| 14 | NR | Dakota State (S.D.) | 19-14 | 172 |
| 15 | RV | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 18-10 | 163 |
| 16 | 13 | Bethel (Ind.) | 24-10 | 159 |
| T17 | 17 | York (Neb.) | 25-10 | 144 |
| T17 | 15 | Warner Pacific (Ore.) | 24-10 | 144 |
| 19 | 8 | Warner (Fla.) | 23-6 | 123 |
| 20 | 23 | Indiana Tech | 23-10 | 117 |
| 21 | NR | Midland (Neb.) | 16-14 | 112 |
| 22 | RV | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 19-13 | 104 |
| 23 | RV | Rochester (Mich.) | 24-7 | 99 |
| 24 | RV | Bellevue (Neb.) | 20-12 | 93 |
| 25 | 18 | Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) | 23-11 | 55 |
Dropped from the rankings: No. 14 Mount Mercy (Iowa); No. 16 Nebraska Wesleyan; No. 19 Tennessee Wesleyan; No. 20 Cal Maritime; No. 21 Valley City State (N.D.); No. 25 Southwestern (Kan.)
Others receiving votes: Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) 50; Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 39; Ohio Christian 38; Bluefield (Va.) 19; Cal Maritime 17; Cincinnati Christian (Ohio) 13; Central Christian (Kan.) 11; Marian (Ind.) 10; Dordt (Iowa) 7; Saint Mary (Kan.) 7; Southeastern (Fla.) 6; Eastern Oregon 6; Jamestown (N.D.) 4; Tennessee Wesleyan 3.