NEW ORLEANS — Five consecutive victories helped Xavier University of Louisiana men's basketball climb into the NAIA top 25 Wednesday.
The Gold Rush (6-1) are 22nd in the coaches poll, the third of the 2021-22 season. It's XULA's first top-25 appearance since Dec. 16, 2020, when it was 23rd.
XULA is one of two Red River Athletic Conference teams in the top 25. LSU-Alexandria — which will play host to the Gold Rush Jan. 20 and visit XULA Feb. 3 — is 19th. Unbeaten Saint Francis (Ind.) received 17-of-21 first-place votes and is No. 1 for the second consecutive poll.
The next rankings will be announced Dec. 15 and Jan. 12.
This is the 12th consecutive season that XULA reached the top 25 in this sport.
NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll — Dec. 1, 2021
(first-place votes in parentheses — records through Nov. 28)
| Rank |
Team |
Record |
Points |
Last |
| 1 |
Saint Francis (Ind.) (17) |
10-0 |
588 |
1 |
| 2 |
Loyola (N.O.) (3) |
10-0 |
573 |
2 |
| 3 |
William Penn (1) |
9-0 |
549 |
3 |
| 4 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
10-0 |
532 |
5 |
| 5 |
Talladega |
10-0 |
515 |
7 |
| 6 |
Arizona Christian |
9-1 |
475 |
4 |
| 7 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
8-1 |
474 |
8 |
| 8 |
SAGU |
6-1 |
457 |
9 |
| 9 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
10-0 |
456 |
14 |
| 10 |
Jamestown |
9-1 |
430 |
10 |
| 11 |
Science & Arts |
6-2 |
367 |
12 |
| 12 |
The Master's |
5-1 |
328 |
17 |
| 13 |
Grace |
9-0 |
312 |
RV |
| 14 |
Stillman |
5-1 |
300 |
15 |
| 15 |
College of Idaho |
7-2 |
296 |
18 |
| 16 |
Thomas More |
5-1 |
277 |
RV |
| 17 |
Georgetown (Ky.) |
7-1 |
274 |
16 |
| 18 |
Morningside |
5-1 |
259 |
22 |
| 19 |
LSU-Alexandria |
7-1 |
222 |
RV |
| 20 |
Lewis-Clark State |
7-1 |
201 |
19 |
| 21 |
Shawnee State |
5-2 |
197 |
6 |
| 22 |
XULA |
6-1 |
167 |
RV |
| 23 |
William Jessup |
9-1 |
143 |
RV |
| 24 |
Marian (Ind.) |
5-2 |
141 |
11 |
| 25 |
Bethel (Kan.) |
6-2 |
131 |
12 |
Dropped from rankings: No. 20 LSU-Shreveport, No. 21 Mid-America Christian, No. 23 Olivet Nazarene, No. 24 Benedictine (Kan.), No. 25 Cornerstone
Others receiving votes: Kansas Wesleyan 123, IU South Bend 110, Concordia (Neb.) 81, Park (Mo.) 74, Cornerstone 59, Olivet Nazarene 58, Menlo 38, Pikeville 31, Faulkner 21, WVU Tech 18, Southeastern (Fla.) 14, Montana Tech 13, Missouri Valley 12, Florida College 11, John Brown 10, Central Methodist 7, Northwestern (Iowa) 6, Tennessee Wesleyan 5, Westmont 3, Valley City State 3
|
|
