Posted: May 08, 2012
The Eagles (40-12) won the Heart of America Athletic Conference regular season championship and captured the tournament title with a 4-1 victory over Baker last Saturday. With the win, Central Methodist earned an automatic birth in the NAIA National Championship Tournament, to be played May 17 -23 in Gulf Shores, Ala.
The top-eight teams locked down their spots and only one newcomer was added to the mix. Overall, Concordia (Calif.) holds the top position for the sixth-consecutive week courtesy of all 19 first-place votes and 529 points.
The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences /independent /unaffiliated groupings.
Notes: (all information dating back to 2000) There have been 37 different teams ranked in nine polls this year...� Concordia (Calif.) joins Lubbock Christian (Texas), Cal State San Marcos and Oregon Tech as the No. 1-ranked teams this year... No. 2 Cal State San Marcos has been positioned in either the Nos. 1 or 2 spots all year... Oregon Tech's No. 1 preseason ranking was nine spots higher than it had ever previously appeared in� any poll and its first top 10 ranking since being slotted 10th on March 19, 2002 ... Concordia joins Cal State San Marcos, former NAIA member California Baptist, Lubbock Christian, Mobile (Ala.), Oklahoma Baptist, Oklahoma City, Oregon Tech, former NAIA member Simon Fraser (B.C.) and Thomas (Ga.) as the only schools to appear at No. 1 ... California Baptist leads the way with 46 all-time No. 1 appearances, followed by Oklahoma City with 20, Simon Fraser with 18, Thomas with 13, Concordia with six , Mobile (Ala.) with five and Lubbock Christian with four... No. 3 Oklahoma City leads all active schools with 80-straight rankings, falling no lower than 18th during that stretch; No. 5 Lubbock Christian and No. 6 William Carey (Miss.) are tied for third with 43-consecutive mentions, No. 11 Houston-Victoria (Texas) follows with 38-straight and Concordia is at 34-straight polls.
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2012 RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Concordia (Calif.) (19) | 54-3 | 529 |
| 2 | 2 | Cal State San Marcos | 50-4 | 512 |
| 3 | 3 | Oklahoma City | 40-18 | 495 |
| 4 | 4 | Central Baptist (Ark.) | 50-5 | 465 |
| 5 | 5 | Lubbock Christian (Texas) | 54-7 | 458 |
| 6 | 6 | William Carey (Miss.) | 47-9 | 451 |
| 7 | 7 | Oregon Tech | 39-7 | 435 |
| 8 | 8 | Azusa Pacific (Calif.) | 40-10 | 403 |
| 9 | 10 | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 53-7 | 388 |
| 10 | 12 | Shorter (Ga.) | 46-11 | 359 |
| 11 | 9 | Houston-Victoria (Texas) | 39-8 | 357 |
| 12 | 13 | Union (Tenn.) | 45-10 | 343 |
| 13 | 11 | Lee (Tenn.) | 46-10 | 322 |
| 14 | 14 | Williams Baptist (Ark.) | 49-9 | 310 |
| 15 | 15 | Southern Nazarene (Okla.) | 40-17 | 291 |
| 16 | 16 | Brenau (Ga.) | 39-14 | 260 |
| 17 | 17 | St. Gregory's (Okla.) | 43-14 | 245 |
| 18 | 18 | Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) | 38-18 | 213 |
| 19 | 19 | Corban (Ore.) | 31-14 | 210 |
| 20 | 20 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 40-12 | 205 |
| 21 | 22 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 46-11 | 187 |
| 22 | 21 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 34-11 | 170 |
| 23 | 23 | Webber International (Fla.) | 37-20 | 122 |
| 24 | 24 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 37-16 | 114 |
| 25 | RV | Bethany (Kan.) | 44-7 | 102 |
Others receiving votes: Mobile (Ala.) 95; William Penn (Iowa) 79; Bellevue (Neb.) 68; Madonna (Mich.) 58; Indiana Wesleyan 33; South Carolina Beaufort 16; Indiana Southeast 16; Morningside (Iowa) 10; Oklahoma Christian 8; Davenport (Mich.) 7; Baker (Kan.) 4; Evangel (Mo.) 3; William Jessup (Calif.) 3; Georgetown (Ky.) 1; Rogers State (Okla.) 1; Brewton-Parker (Ga.) 1; Concordia (Ore.) 1; Texas Wesleyan 1; Thomas (Ga.) 1; William Woods (Mo.) 1; Science & Arts (Okla.) 1; Park (Mo.) 1; Campbellsville (Ky.) 1; College of Idaho 1; Northwestern (Iowa) 1; Columbia (Mo.) 1.
