Kansas City, Mo. - Coming off their second-straight NAIA Fab Four appearance in 2022-23, the Central Methodist Women's Basketball program enters the new season ranked No. 2 in the preseason edition of the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll.
The poll, which was announced by the national office Wednesday morning, features three other Heart programs including; defending NAIA National Champions Clarke University (No. 7), No. 18 MidAmerica Nazarene, and (RV) Grand View University.
Central received three first-place votes, while Campbellsville (Ky.) landed at No. 1 with 15 first-place votes.
In addition, CMU was picked to repeat as Heart Conference Champions in the preseason poll that was released by the conference office on Oct. 11.
Central is coming off a season that saw them post a 35-1 overall record and a sweep of the Heart Regular Season and Conference Tournament Championships. The Eagles' only loss last season came to 2021-22 National Champion Thomas More (Ky.) in the national semifinals.
Junior guard Zutorya Cook returns to the lineup for CMU, and will serve as a key piece to Central's success this season. The native of Marrieta, Georgia was named the Heart Defensive Player of the Year and led the NAIA in steals with 128.
The Eagles will open up their season against Stephens College Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 5:30 p.m. inside Puckett Field House.
To view the poll methodology and the complete Top 25 poll, please see below.
Rating Methodology
- The rating was rated by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences/Continental Athletic Conference (Independents)/unaffiliated groups.
- The Coaches' 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"
- For the complete women's basketball ratings calendar, CLICK HERE.
| RANK | LAST TIME | SCHOOL [FIRST PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Campbellsville (Ky.) [15] | 31-3 | 526 |
| 2 | 1 | Central Methodist (Mo.) [3] | 35-1 | 500 |
| 3 | 4 | Dordt (Iowa) | 30-4 | 498 |
| 4 | 5 | Indiana Wesleyan [1] | 30-4 | 486 |
| 5 | 8 | Marian (Ind.) | 29-6 | 457 |
| 6 | 11 | Carroll (Mont.) | 26-7 | 429 |
| 7 | 7 | Clarke (Iowa) | 33-4 | 417 |
| 8 | 24 | Dakota State (S.D.) | 29-7 | 413 |
| 9 | 12 | Rio Grande (Ohio) | 30-4 | 378 |
| 10 | 14 | Vanguard (Calif.) | 23-7 | 372 |
| 11 | 10 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 30-4 | 367 |
| 12 | 18 | Briar Cliff (Iowa) | 26-8 | 334 |
| 13 | 21 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 24-8 | 316 |
| 14 | 9 | Loyola (La.) | 27-3 | 280 |
| 15 | RV | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | 20-11 | 279 |
| 16 | 12 | Eastern Oregon | 30-3 | 255 |
| 17 | NR | Concordia (Neb.) | 20-12 | 234 |
| 18 | NR | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 21-8 | 216 |
| 19 | 22 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | 23-7 | 203 |
| 20 | 16 | Indiana Tech | 27-6 | 172 |
| 20 | RV | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | 24-10 | 172 |
| 22 | NR | Mayville State (N.D.) | 24-6 | 153 |
| 23 | RV | Rust (Miss.) | 23-6 | 152 |
| 24 | NR | Providence (Mont.) | 16-14 | 142 |
| 25 | 25 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 23-7 | 125 |
Receiving Votes: College of the Ozarks (Mo.) 71, Indiana South Bend (Ind.) 70, Southern Oregon 64, Montana Western 52, Georgetown (Ky.) 47, Bryan (Tenn.) 41, Jamestown (N.D.) 26, Menlo (Calif.) 24, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 23, Pikeville (Ky.) 21, Grace (Ind.) 20, Columbia (Mo.) 10, Grand View (Iowa) 9, Faulkner (Ala.) 7, Indiana Northwest 5, John Brown (Ark.) 3, Philander Smith (Ark.) 3, Oakland City (Ind.) 3
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