KANSAS CITY, Mo.— Oklahoma City reigns on top of the 2016 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll for the sixth straight week. The Stars (58-2), which fell in the Sooner Athletic Conference semifinals, had their second 29-game win streak of the season snapped. Oklahoma City will host No. 20 Houston-Victoria, No. 25 Friends and Doane in the opening round of the NAIA Championships.
The postseason Top 25 edition will be announced June 7.
Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):
• The top-five teams stayed intact for the fourth-straight edition.
• Oklahoma City earned the No. 1 ranking with 18-of-19 first-place votes and 529 total points.
• With a NAIA-best 58-2 record, the Stars have now reached the 50-win threshold in each of the last four seasons.
• After winning the Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) regular-season championship, Oklahoma City tripped up in the SAC tournament and had its 29-game win streak halted against Texas Wesleyan on May 6 by a 3-2 score.
• The Stars are one of 19 NAIA softball teams to reach at least 40 wins on the year. Second-ranked Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) and No. 4 Campbellsville (Ky.) are next in line with 48 victories.
• Auburn Montgomery gathered the remaining first-place vote and tallied 509 total points.
• No. 3 St. Gregory’s (Okla.), No. 4 Campbellsville and fifth-ranked Saint Xavier (Ill.) round out the top five.
• No. 10 (tied) Martin Methodist (Tenn.) and No. 19 Central Methodist (Mo.) both slid up two positions, the best positive improvement this week.
• No. 13 Georgia Gwinnett and No. 20 Houston-Victoria (Texas) suffered a two-spot fall, which was the worst downhill slide.
• No. 23 Grand View (Iowa), behind seven-straight wins, is the lone newcomer in the Top 25. The Vikings were last ranked three weeks ago.
• Tied in the 10th spot, Martin Methodist enjoys its first top-10 ranking since Feb. 2, 2010 (No. 8).
• Oklahoma City leads all active schools with 120-straight rankings, falling no lower than 18th during that stretch, which goes back to the start of the 2004 season. William Carey (Miss.) is second with 83-consecutive mentions. Next in line for consecutive streaks is Auburn Montgomery at 49-straight; St. Gregory’s at 47 and Lindsey Wilson at 44.
• Former member California Baptist tops the charts of most all-time No. 1 mentions with 46. Oklahoma City is second all-time with 34, followed by former member Concordia (Calif.) with 24, former member Simon Fraser (B.C.) with 18 and Thomas (Ga.) with 13.
• The Southern States Athletic Conference leads all leagues with three schools represented: Auburn Montgomery, No. 8 William Carey (Miss.) and Martin Methodist. Overall, five conferences send multiple schools into the Top 25.
• Through all nine polls this year (including Preseason), there have been 40 different ranked teams.
• Thirteen teams have held a ranking each week (through nine polls).Poll Methodology
• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and the 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”
• For the complete calendar of 2016 Top 25 Polls, click here
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2016 NAIA Softball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – May 10 (Final)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2016 RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Oklahoma City (18) | 58-2 | 529 |
| 2 | 2 | Auburn Montgomery (Ala.) (1) | 48-6 | 509 |
| 3 | 3 | St. Gregory's (Okla.) | 43-5 | 495 |
| 4 | 4 | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 48-8 | 481 |
| 5 | 5 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 40-7-1 | 451 |
| 6 | 6 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 44-12 | 447 |
| 7 | 7 | Simpson (Calif.) | 40-4 | 430 |
| 8 | 8 | William Carey (Miss.) | 36-15 | 416 |
| 9 | 9 | LSU Alexandria | 46-10 | 386 |
| T10 | 12 | Martin Methodist (Tenn.) | 45-14 | 349 |
| T10 | 10 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 39-14 | 349 |
| 12 | 13 | Davenport (Mich.) | 38-10 | 341 |
| 13 | 11 | Georgia Gwinnett | 41-17 | 340 |
| 14 | 14 | Reinhardt (Ga.) | 41-10 | 307 |
| 15 | 15 | Morningside (Iowa) | 44-8 | 300 |
| 16 | 16 | Dickinson State (N.D.) | 45-10 | 266 |
| 17 | 17 | Marian (Ind.) | 44-9 | 252 |
| 18 | 19 | Arizona Christian | 37-14-1 | 219 |
| 19 | 21 | Central Methodist (Mo.) | 41-16 | 203 |
| 20 | 18 | Houston-Victoria (Texas) | 36-13 | 183 |
| 21 | 20 | Southern Oregon | 36-16 | 180 |
| 22 | 22 | Rio Grande (Ohio) | 40-7 | 178 |
| 23 | RV | Grand View (Iowa) | 43-9 | 141 |
| 24 | 24 | Park (Mo.) | 30-15-1 | 137 |
| 25 | 25 | Friends (Kan.) | 35-12 | 119 |
Dropped from rankings: No. 23 Oregon Tech.
Others Receiving Votes: Oregon Tech 66; Williams Baptist (Ark.) 48; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 43; Brenau (Ga.) 32; Huntington (Ind.) 31; Indiana Wesleyan 29; Menlo (Calif.) 28; Doane (Neb.) 19; Valley City State (N.D.) 17; Webber International (Fla.) 12; Science & Arts (Okla.) 9; USC Beaufort (S.C.) 5; Milligan (Tenn.) 3; Ashford (Iowa) 3.
