It seems strange to be talking about a preseason poll for the upcoming 2025 season on November 6, but here we are.

The NAIA released their annual preseason poll today and four teams from the Sooner State are mentioned.

Defending Sooner Athletic Conference champs, Mid America Christian University comes in at #13 while perennial top team, Oklahoma City University is ranked at #23.

USAO and OK Wesleyan did not make the top 25, but they did receive votes.

According to the official NAIA website (naia.org), here is, as they put it, the “rating methodology.”

• The rating was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences.
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each rater 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 on the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”

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MACU Evangels

The Evangels are coming off their best season in program history in 2024. The finished with an overall record of 41-13 along with a SAC record of 20-4. They won both the regular season and conference tournaments in the SAC and earned a #1 seed in the Hattiesburg Regional in the NAIA Opening Round.

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Oklahoma City Stars

The Stars went 35-18 overall in 2024 with a SAC record of 17-7 which was good enough for 2nd place in the SAC. OCU received an at-large bid to the NAIA Opening Round where they went 0-2 in the Lewiston Regional.

Outside of SAC play, the Stars played 9 games against teams who were ranked at the time they played.

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USAO Drovers

The Drovers went 36-18 in 2024 with a conference record of 17-7 tying them for 2nd along with OCU (OCU was the #2 seed in the SAC Tournament via tiebreaker). USAO also received an at-large bid to the NAIA Opening Round where they were Regional Runner Up in the Lincoln Regional.

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Oklahoma Wesleyan Eagles

The Eagles went 35-20 in 2024 with a KCAC record of 26-10 which was good for 3rd place in the regular season. However, OKWU went 4-0 in the KCAC Tournament earning an automatic bid to the NAIA Opening Round. Unfortunately, the Eagles went 0-2 in the Hattiesburg Regional losing both games by one run.

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Other Bullet Points

• While there are no other Sooner Athletic Conference teams ranked or receiving votes, two KCAC teams are ranked: Kansas Wesleyan at #12 and Tabor at #22
• MACU, OCU, and USAO were ranked as the top 3 teams respectively in the preseason SAC poll and OK Wesleyan was 3rd in the KCAC poll that came out yesterday.
• The next rankings don’t come out until March 5…five weeks after the NAIA season officially begins
• The preseason rankings look eerily similar to the final regular season rankings from last season.

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