Kansas City, Mo. - The Central Methodist Men's Soccer program jumped to No. 22 in the third edition of the NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 poll, which was announced by the national office this week.
Central was previously receiving votes in the second-ranking released on Sept. 11. Other Heart programs joining Central in the Top 25 are No. 6 William Penn, No. 10 Missouri Valley, No. 19 Benedictine, No. 20 MidAmerica Nazarene, and No. 25 Baker.
CMU has raced out to an 8-1 record and a 2-1 mark in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Central's only blemish came in a narrow 1-0 defeat to Missouri Valley College back on Sept. 17 in Marshall.
The Eagles head out on the road to face No. 25 Baker on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in Baldwin City, Kan.
To view the poll methodology and the complete Top 25 poll, please see below.
Poll Methodology:
- The poll is for publicity purposes only and has no weight or bearing in the selection process for national championship field consideration.
- A panel of head coaches representing each conference and Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) voted on the poll.
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter votes for the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place, 28 points for third-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.
- Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes".
| RANK | LAST TIME | INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | St. Thomas (Fla.) [11] | 6-0-0 | 473 |
| 2 | 2 | Dalton State (Ga.) [7] | 7-0-0 | 470 |
| 3 | 3 | Bethel (Ind.) | 7-0-2 | 446 |
| 4 | 6 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 5-1-0 | 415 |
| 5 | 7 | Indiana Wesleyan | 8-0-0 | 413 |
| 6 | 8 | William Penn (Iowa) | 9-0-1 | 393 |
| 7 | 9 | Mobile (Ala.) | 6-1-1 | 371 |
| 8 | 5 | Bellevue (Neb.) | 6-0-2 | 354 |
| 9 | 12 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 7-0-1 | 349 |
| 10 | 11 | Missouri Valley | 6-1-1 | 335 |
| 11 | 4 | Milligan (Tenn.) | 4-0-3 | 330 |
| 12 | 14 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | 5-1-2 | 285 |
| 13 | 16 | William Carey (Miss.) | 5-0-2 | 283 |
| 14 | 13 | Cumberland (Tenn.) | 8-1-0 | 268 |
| 15 | 15 | Columbia (Mo.) | 4-1-2 | 260 |
| 16 | 17 | Indiana Tech | 4-1-2 | 225 |
| 17 | 18 | Keiser (Fla.) | 3-1-1 | 223 |
| 18 | 19 | Bethel (Tenn.) | 5-1-3 | 181 |
| 19 | 24 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 9-1-0 | 177 |
| 20 | 10 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 3-3-3 | 171 |
| 21 | 23 | Westcliff (Calif.) | 5-1-1 | 136 |
| 22 | RV | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 8-1-0 | 89 |
| 23 | RV | Madonna (Mich.) | 5-1-2 | 80 |
| 24 | 22 | Southern Oregon | 5-2-0 | 79 |
| 25 | NR | Baker (Kan.) | 7-2-0 | 61 |
Dropped From Top 25: Grace (Ind.), Georgia Gwinnett, LSU Shreveport (La.)
Receiving Votes: UC Merced (Calif.) 55, Georgia Gwinnett 51, Williams Baptist (Ark.) 46, Grace (Ind.) 34, Union Commonwealth (Ky.) 34, William Woods (Mo.) 33, LSU Shreveport (La.) 30, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 27, Louisiana Christian 26, Life (Ga.) 21, Trinity Christian (Ill.) 20, Warner Pacific (Ore.) 17, College of Idaho 10, Oklahoma City 8, Marian (Ind.) 8, John Brown (Ark.) 7, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 5, Tennessee Southern 5, Thomas (Ga.) 4, Concordia (Neb.) 3, Spring Arbor (Mich.) 2
