Kansas City, Mo. - The Central Methodist softball program finished the 2022 campaign ranked No. 13 in the NAIA Softball Coaches' Top 25 postseason poll, announced by the national office.
The only other Heart program featured in the Top 25 is No. 8 Grand View.
Central concluded the year with an overall record of 42-7 and an outstanding 27-1 mark in conference play. CMU swept the regular season and tournament championships for the first time since the 2014 season, and rattled off 28 consecutive wins from March 16 - May 6. The 28-straight victories are the most by the program in the last 15 seasons.
In addition, the Eagles advanced to the Opening Round Championship of the Bowling Green bracket as the No. 1 seed in this year's NAIA National Championship in Bowling Green, Ky.
To view the poll methodology and the complete Top 25 poll, please see below.
Poll Methodology
- The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents).
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter 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"
- The frequency of the polls is bi-weekly. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) prior to the 2016-17 academic season. This change allows raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work between rating periods.
- For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.
2022 NAIA Softball Coaches' Top 25 POSTSEASON Poll
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Oklahoma City [18] | 54-6 | 498 |
| 2 | 1 | Mobile (Ala.) | 52-4 | 482 |
| 3 | 5 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 53-10 | 466 |
| 4 | 11 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 52-13 | 448 |
| 5 | 3 | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | 54-6 | 429 |
| 6 | 7 | Indiana Wesleyan | 54-10 | 426 |
| 7 | 4 | Oregon Tech | 50-13 | 402 |
| 8 | 10 | Grand View (Iowa) | 46-12 | 386 |
| 9 | 23 | Tennessee Wesleyan | 37-9 | 362 |
| 10 | RV | Webber International (Fla.) | 42-24 | 352 |
| 11 | 6 | William Carey (Miss.) | 48-11 | 328 |
| 12 | 8 | Southern Oregon | 49-14 | 324 |
| 13 | 9 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 42-7 | 318 |
| 14 | 15 | Eastern Oregon | 43-17 | 259 |
| 15 | 17 | Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) | 46-13 | 241 |
| 16 | 18 | Columbia (Mo.) | 35-12 | 224 |
| 17 | 12 | Georgia Gwinnett | 36-20 | 221 |
| 18 | 12 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 38-17 | 217 |
| 19 | 14 | Marian (Ind.) | 40-13 | 208 |
| 20 | 16 | Coastal Georgia | 39-14 | 189 |
| 21 | 25 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 39-8 | 188 |
| 22 | 20 | College of Idaho | 43-17 | 146 |
| 23 | RV | William Jessup (Calif.) | 39-15 | 140 |
| 24 | 19 | Madonna (Mich.) | 31-9 | 122 |
| 25 | 21 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 38-18 | 114 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Texas A&M Texarkana, Embry Riddle (Ariz.)
Others Receiving Votes: Texas A&M Texarkana 102, Midland (Neb.) 95, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 93, Ottawa (Kan.) 76, Rio Grande (Ohio) 28, Bellevue (Neb.) 21, Bryan (Tenn.) 16, Friends (Kan.) 14, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 11, Vanguard (Calif.) 5, Mount Mercy (Iowa) 3.
