With combined records of 15-1, the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens and Pioneers both made huge leaps in the NAIA Basketball Coaches Top 25 polls. The Flying Queens jumped from 23rd ni the preseason poll to fifth while the Pioneers went from not receiving any votes to 15
th.
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The Flying Queens are unbeaten after six games, with wins over then No. 13 Our Lady of the Lake (100-80) and No. 19 MidAmerica Nazarene, Kan. (78-55). They won an exhibition road game over West Texas A&M, ranked No. 4 and undefeated at 7-0 in NCAA Division II, and won their first two Sooner Athletic Conference contests over Texas Wesleyan, 88-79, and Southwestern Assemblies of God University, 66-47.
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The win over Texas Wesleyan was the program's 1,600
th all-time victory. The Flying Queens are the winningest women's or men's collegiate basketball program in the country and a nominee for entry into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
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Wayland is now the top-ranked team in the SAC after defending national champion Oklahoma City (7-2) went from No. 1 to No. 8. The SAC's John Brown University is ranked No. 18.
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Meanwhile, Wayland's Pioneers went from being not receiving any Top 25 preseason votes to being ranked 15
th, the second-highest ranked team in the SAC.
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Wayland won its first seven games before falling on the road to Our Lady of the Lake, a team ranked the equivalent of 30
th and which the Pioneers had previously beaten at home. WBU responded by taking down top-ranked, defending national champion Texas Wesleyan by 29 points, 90-61, in their conference opener, then beat SAGU, ranked the equivalent of 32
nd at the time, 80-72.
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Also in the SAC, unbeaten Science and Arts of Oklahoma (9-0) made a big leap in the poll as well, going from the equivalent of 28
th to No. 7. Other ranked SAC teams are MidAmerica Christian at 20
th and Oklahoma City at 23
rd. Texas Wesleyan fell from No. 1 to the equivalent of 26
th, and SAGU is the equivalent of 31
st.
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The Pioneers' 9-1 record represents the third-best start to a season in program history, behind the 9-0 starts in 2004-05 and 1985-86.
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Both WBU teams' next outings are Saturday afternoon, Dec. 16 in Bethany Okla., against Southwestern Christian.
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NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25
| RANK |
WEEK |
SCHOOL [FIRST PLACE VOTES] |
RECORD |
POINTS |
| 1 |
4 |
Vanguard (Calif.) [8] |
6-0 |
219 |
| 2 |
3 |
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) [1] |
7-1 |
212 |
| 3 |
6 |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
9-1 |
205 |
| 4 |
5 |
Shawnee State (Ohio) |
8-3 |
194 |
| 5 |
23 |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
6-0 |
191 |
| 6 |
2 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
9-2 |
187 |
| 7 |
19 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
8-1 |
178 |
| 8 |
1 |
Oklahoma City |
7-2 |
168 |
| 9 |
9 |
Benedictine (Kan.) |
8-2 |
159 |
| 9 |
8 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
8-1 |
159 |
| 11 |
7 |
Westmont (Calif.) |
5-3 |
147 |
| 12 |
16 |
Montana Western |
7-2 |
146 |
| 13 |
10 |
Baker (Kan.) |
8-2 |
135 |
| 14 |
14 |
Lyon (Ark.) |
5-1 |
130 |
| 15 |
18 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
7-2 |
121 |
| 16 |
16 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
6-3 |
108 |
| 17 |
13 |
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) |
5-4 |
104 |
| 18 |
12 |
John Brown (Ark.) |
6-3 |
96 |
| 19 |
NR |
Martin Methodist (Tenn.) |
9-3 |
92 |
| 20 |
NR |
Dillard (La.) |
7-2 |
84 |
| 21 |
NR |
Carroll (Mont.) |
6-2 |
81 |
| 22 |
21 |
Montana State-Northern |
6-4 |
75 |
| 23 |
24 |
Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.) |
4-3 |
67 |
| 24 |
11 |
Bethel (Tenn.) |
6-6 |
59 |
| 25 |
NR |
LSU Shreveport (La.) |
9-0 |
49 |
Dropped from the rankings: No. 20 Loyola (La.), No. 15 Central Methodist (Mo.), No. 25 Talladega (Ala.) and No. 22 Cumberland (Tenn.)
Others receiving votes: Loyola 40, Central Methodist 40, Pikeville (Ky.) 32, Providence (Mont.) 14, Arizona Christian 9, Talladega (Ala.) 9, Xavier (La.) 6 and Cumberland (Tenn.) 3
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NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll
| RANK |
LAST WEEK^ |
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) |
2017-18 RECORD |
TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 |
4 |
Georgetown (Ky.) (7) |
13-0 |
218 |
| 2 |
11 |
LSU Shreveport (La.) (1) |
8-0 |
207 |
| 3 |
3 |
William Penn (Iowa) |
11-1 |
204 |
| 4 |
T12 |
Carroll (Mont.) (1) |
8-0 |
197 |
| 5 |
5 |
The Master's (Calif.) |
8-1 |
193 |
| 6 |
7 |
Columbia (Mo.) |
9-1 |
179 |
| 7 |
NR |
Science & Arts (Okla.) |
9-0 |
174 |
| 8 |
14 |
Pikeville (Ky.) |
11-0 |
173 |
| 9 |
21 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
11-0 |
156 |
| 10 |
10 |
Hope International (Calif.) |
7-1 |
148 |
| 11 |
24 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
10-1 |
139 |
| 12 |
NR |
Faulkner (Ala.) |
10-0 |
136 |
| 13 |
6 |
Dalton State (Ga.) |
7-2 |
135 |
| 14 |
2 |
LSU Alexandria (La.) |
5-2 |
134 |
| 15 |
NR |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
9-1 |
127 |
| 16 |
NR |
Central Methodist (Mo.) |
9-1 |
119 |
| 17 |
8 |
Montana Western |
7-1 |
111 |
| 18 |
NR |
Missouri Baptist |
8-1 |
97 |
| 19 |
18 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
8-2 |
89 |
| 20 |
22 |
Mid-America Christian (Okla.) |
7-2 |
84 |
| 21 |
NR |
Campbellsville (Ky.) |
9-1 |
82 |
| 22 |
23 |
Vanguard (Calif.) |
4-2 |
64 |
| 23 |
T12 |
Oklahoma City |
6-2 |
56 |
| 24 |
19 |
Langston (Okla.) |
6-2 |
54 |
| 25 |
9 |
Life (Ga.) |
8-2 |
52 |
Others Receiving Votes:Â Westmont (Calif.) 47; William Carey (Miss.) 40; Benedictine (Kan.) 30; Dillard (La.) 12; Central Baptist (Ark.) 11; SAGU (Texas) 8; Cumberlands (Ky.) 7; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 4; Xavier (La.) 4.
Dropped Out: No. 1 Texas Wesleyan; No. 15 Dillard (La.); No. 16 William Carey (Miss.); No. 17 Park (Mo.); No. 20 Benedictine (Kan.); No. 25 (tie) Martin Methodist (Tenn.).
^ Previous ranking occurred Oct. 24, 2017 (Preseason Top 25)
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