NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana
climbed to 16th Wednesday in the NAIA Division I men's basketball coaches poll —
the highest Gold Rush ranking in nearly four years.
The Gold Rush climbed from an "others receiving votes"
position of 28th in the October preseason poll. It's XULA's highest ranking
since 14th on Jan. 12, 2016.
The poll is derived on results through Sunday (Nov. 24).
Not considered in the rankings was XULA's 91-89 overtime home victory Tuesday
against city rival Loyola, which climbed from 17th to third.
Loyola is one of three teams in the preseason top 25
that XULA defeated. The others were William Carey and Wiley, both of which dropped
out of Wednesday's rankings.
The top 25 includes:
• Four teams from the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference:
No. 13 Talladega, XULA, No. 24 Dillard and No. 25 Tougaloo.
• Five Louisiana teams:
Loyola, No. 7 LSU-Shreveport, No. 11 LSU-Alexandria, XULA and Dillard.
• Five HBCU teams:
Talladega, XULA, No. 19 Stillman, Dillard and Tougaloo.
XULA will visit the University of New Orleans at 6 p.m. Saturday,
then break for semester exams. The next home game will start at 5 p.m. Dec. 17 against
Mobile at the Convocation Center. Between those games will be a 4 p.m. rematch Dec. 14 against Loyola at The Den.
The next top 25 will be announced Dec. 11.
2019-20 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll
(first-place votes in parentheses — records through Nov. 24)
| Rank |
Team |
Record |
Points |
Last |
| 1 |
Georgetown (Ky.) (9) |
8-0 |
219 |
1 |
| 2 |
The Master's |
6-0 |
208 |
2 |
| 3-tie |
Mid-America Christian |
9-0 |
198 |
18 |
| 3-tie |
Loyola (N.O.) |
10-0 |
198 |
17 |
| 5 |
Pikeville |
10-0 |
195 |
5 |
| 6 |
William Penn |
8-1 |
186 |
4 |
| 7 |
LSU-Shreveport |
6-1 |
178 |
11 |
| 8 |
Providence (Mont.) |
5-0 |
171 |
12 |
| 9 |
Wayland Baptist |
6-1 |
164 |
3 |
| 10 |
Arizona Christian |
5-1 |
153 |
10 |
| 11 |
LSU-Alexandria |
5-2 |
146 |
6 |
| 12 |
John Brown |
8-0 |
145 |
NR |
| 13 |
Talladega |
8-1 |
123 |
8 |
| 14 |
Lewis-Clark State |
8-0 |
118 |
23 |
| 15 |
Hope International |
8-0 |
111 |
RV |
| 16 |
XULA |
9-3 |
110 |
RV |
| 17 |
Montana State-Northern |
4-0 |
109 |
19 |
| 18 |
Life |
8-0 |
105 |
NR |
| 19 |
Stillman |
7-2 |
101 |
14 |
| 20 |
Park (Mo.) |
5-1 |
88 |
24 |
| 21 |
Dalton State |
7-1 |
85 |
NR |
| 22 |
Westmont |
7-0 |
64 |
NR |
| 23 |
Thomas More |
8-0 |
58 |
NR |
| 24 |
Dillard |
7-4 |
52 |
RV |
| 25 |
Tougaloo |
7-1 |
46 |
NR |
Dropped from rankings: No. 7 William Carey, No. 9 Benedictine (Kan.),
No. 13 Science & Arts, No. 15 Vanguard, No. 16 Cumberlands, No. 20 Central Methodist,
No. 21 Campbellsville, No. 22 Wiley, No. 25 Peru State
Others receiving votes: SAGU 33, Lyon 25, Lindsey Wilson 22,
Science & Arts 17, Carroll (Mont.) 17, Peru State 17, Texas College 14, Central Baptist 12,
Bethel (Tenn.) 7, Shawnee State 6
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