After dismantling a ninth ranked Wayland Baptist team just over a week ago, the Rams (12-3, 5-1 SAC) jump three spots in the third Top 25 poll of the 2019-20 season.
 
This week, No.19 Texas Wesleyan will have a big home test against an undefeated Mid-America Christian (15-0, 6-0 SAC) who moved up one spot at No. 2 in the poll. The two SAC superpowers tip-off tomorrow, Thursday, Jan. 16 after the conclusion of the women's basketball game, which is set to start at 6 p.m.

The Evangels defense has been grinding opponents to a halt, fourth in the country in field goal defense (38.3 percent). In the last three games, MACU opponents haven't cracked 60. Their scoring offense is top 10 too, averaging 93.3 (seventh). See where the Rams rank, listed below.

This is a matchup fans won't want to miss as two of the best the SAC and NAIA has to offer.
 
The SAC has four teams in the Top 25. No. 2 MACU, No. 10 John Brown, No. 19 TXWES, and No. 22 SAGU. Wayland Baptist dropped out of the Top 25 because of a pair of blowout losses to the Rams and SAGU, but are still receiving votes.  
 
Undefeated Georgetown (Ky.) (15-0) holds the No. 1 spot.
 
2019-20 Team Rankings
 

Ranks Number 9 in Division I in Scoring Offense per Game (93.000)

Ranks Number 12 in Division I in Field Goal Pct (0.504)

Ranks Number 14 in Division I in Scoring Margin (16.867)

Ranks Number 15 in Division I in Turnover Margin (3.667)

Ranks Number 18 in Division I in Defensive Rebounds per Game (29.133)

Ranks Number 20 in Division I in Total Rebound Margin (6.400)

Ranks Number 21 in Division I in Assists per Game (16.533)

Ranks Number 24 in Division I in Total Rebounds per Game (40.267)

Ranks Number 24 in Division I in 3-Pt Fg Pct (0.379)

Ranks Number 25 in Division I in Total Scoring Offense (1395)

 
Texas Wesleyan Statistical Leaders
 
 Points – Sam Lorenzen 15.60 ppg, FG% .488
 Rebounds – Akeem White 6.31 rpg, Total: 82
 Assists – Davon Berry 3.60 apg, Total: 54
 Steals – Peyton Sallee 1.47 spg, Total: 22
 Blocks – Sebastian Karwoski .60 bpg, Total: 9

2019-20 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll – Poll 3 (January 15, 2020)

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL [1st Place Votes]	RECORD	FINAL POINTS
1	1	Georgetown (Ky.) [9]	15-0	219
2	3	Mid-America Christian (Okla.)	15-0	212
3	5	William Penn (Iowa)	14-1	204
4	11	Westmont (Calif.)	17-1	199
5	6	LSU Shreveport (La.)	15-2	189
6	19	Dalton State (Ga.)	15-1	185
7	2	The Master's (Calif.)	14-3	168
8	7	Providence (Mont.)	15-1	167
9	23	Carroll (Mont.)	13-3	166
10	10	John Brown (Ark.)	13-2	158
11	12	LSU Alexandria (La.)	14-4	142
12	13	Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)	15-1	141
13	RV	Faulkner (Ala.)	14-3	133
14	4	Pikeville (Ky.)	15-3	132
15	14	Xavier (La.)	13-4	122
16	RV	Cumberlands (Ky.)	13-4	110
17	8	Loyola (La.)	13-4	102
18	15	Hope International (Calif.)	14-3	94
19	22	Texas Wesleyan	12-3	91
20	24	Talladega (Ala.)	14-3	88
21	18	Central Baptist (Ark.)	11-3	84
22	RV	SAGU (Texas)	12-2	69
23	21	Arizona Christian	13-4	65
24	NR	William Carey (Miss.)	13-5	59
25	NR	Shawnee State (Ohio)	14-5	55

Dropped from the Top 25: Wayland Baptist (Texas), Tougaloo (Miss.), Stillman (Ala.), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Dillard (La.).
Others Receiving Votes: Tougaloo (Miss.) 52, Clarke (Iowa) 22, Stillman (Ala.) 19, Park (Mo.) 15, Dillard (La.) 13, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 11, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 7, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 4, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 3.

Notes from the NAIA
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000)

• Georgetown (Ky.) received all nine first-place votes.
• The Tigers are a perfect 15-0 on the year after and sport the No. 2-ranked scoring offense with an average of 97.5 points per game, No. 2-ranked scoring margin with an average of 30.4 points per game and No. 2-ranked field goal defense at 37.5 percent on the year.
• Mid-America Christian (Okla.) jumped to its highest position this season at No. 2. The Evangels are a perfect 15-0 on the year and sit just seven points behind Georgetown with big wins in this ratings period over the likes of No. 10 John Brown (Ark.) and RV Wayland Baptist (Texas).
• William Penn (Iowa) is currently pacing a very competitive Heart of America Athletic Conference as it ended at No. 3. The Statesmen have just one loss to MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) back on November 20 in a 99-94 shootout on the road.
• Westmont returned to the Top 5 for the first time since January 17, 2017, when it was ranked No. 5. The last time the Warriors were ranked as high as No. 4 was on April 1, 2015 when the team was coming off an appearance in the 2015 NAIA National Championship game.
• LSU Shreveport (La.) rounded-out the Top 5, in at No. 5, on the back of a 15-2 record. The Pilots are 11-1 in their last 12 games and are ranked No. 2 in the nation in both rebounds per game (46.5) and total rebound margin (14.4)
• Carroll (Mont.) had the most positive movement this week with a 14-spot bump from No. 23 to No. 9.
• William Carey (Miss.), Shawnee State (Ohio), SAGU (Texas), Cumberlands (Ky.) and Faulkner (Ala.) are the five newcomers to the poll this week. Of this group, William Carey and Shawnee State are the only ones that had not received votes in the most previous edition.
• Former member Mountain State (W.Va.) owns the most No. 1-rankings with 48, followed by Robert Morris (Ill.) (24) and Georgetown (Ky.) (21). LSU Alexandria is next on the list with 16 while former NAIA member Concordia (Calif.) is at 12.
• Pikeville (Ky.) owns the longest active streak in the Top 25, which is now at 78 consecutive polls.

 
Poll Methodology:

• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and Association of Independent Institutions.
• 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 ratings) 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 appears on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes"
• Frequency of polls occur bi-weekly. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) beginning in the 2016-17 academic season. This change will allow raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work in between rating periods.
• For the complete Top 25 calendar, click here.

 
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