Kansas City, Mo. – Southern Oregon remains on top of the second NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Rating of the season, garnering 17 first-place votes and sporting a 21-1 record. Oregon Tech and Science and Arts (Okla.) remain steady at second and third, while Cumberlands (Ky.) jumps into fourth and Oklahoma City rounds out the top five. Saint Xavier (Ill.) and Evangel (Mo.) climbed into the rankings this week at 22nd and 24th after receiving votes in the first release.
Rating Methodology:
- The rating is rated by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conference/Continental Athletic Conference (Independents).
- The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each rater rates the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place, 28 for third-place and so on through the list.
- The highest and lowest ratings for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) are removed. The team’s rating will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the team appears on.
- Teams that receive only one point on the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”.
| RANK | LAST TIME | INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Southern Oregon [17] | 21-1 | 480 |
| 2 | 2 | Oregon Tech | 13-3 | 458 |
| 3 | 3 | Science and Arts (Okla.) [1] | 17-4 | 453 |
| 4 | 7 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 16-6 | 407 |
| 5 | 5 | Oklahoma City | 20-4 | 404 |
| 6 | 8 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 16-4 | 384 |
| 7 | 4 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 22-5 | 371 |
| 8 | 6 | Georgia Gwinnett | 16-5 | 367 |
| 9 | 15 | LSU Alexandria (La.) | 20-2 | 354 |
| 10 | 9 | Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) | 26-5 | 350 |
| 11 | 11 | Marian (Ind.) | 15-3 | 304 |
| 12 | 10 | Madonna (Mich.) | 16-5 | 298 |
| 13 | 14 | Eastern Oregon | 10-3 | 271 |
| 14 | 16 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 21-3 | 268 |
| 15 | 18 | Indiana Wesleyan | 12-2 | 259 |
| 16 | 17 | Missouri Baptist | 18-4 | 258 |
| 17 | 13 | William Carey (Miss.) | 17-4 | 250 |
| 18 | 19 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 21-3 | 217 |
| 19 | 12 | Hope International (Calif.) | 12-5 | 188 |
| 20 | 24 | College of Idaho | 13-3 | 139 |
| 21 | 22 | Mobile (Ala.) | 16-7 | 136 |
| 22 | RV | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 14-5 | 135 |
| 23 | 21 | Midland (Neb.) | 17-9 | 123 |
| 24 | RV | Evangel (Mo.) | 20-4 | 117 |
| 25 | 23 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 13-5 | 91 |
Dropped from Top 25: Benedictine (Kan.), Bellevue (Ne.)
Receiving Votes: Benedictine (Kan.) 85, Texas A&M Texarkana 77, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 39, Rio Grande (Ohio) 35, Bellevue (Neb.) 21, Keiser (Fla.) 13, Coastal Georgia 12, Grand View (IowA) 11, Friends (Kan.) 8, Brenau (Ga.) 7, Middle Georgia State 4, British Columbia (B.C.) 3, Jamestown (N.D.) 2
