LOUISVILLE, Ky. — National champion Texas Lutheran starts 2020 right where it finished last season — as the unanimous No. 1 in the NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll.

The (40-8) Bulldogs won their first NCAA Division III title last May, going undefeated in five games at the NCAA championship finals in Tyler, Texas, including a sweep of Emory in the best-of-three championship series.

Emory (39-14), meanwhile, opens second in the rankings after finishing as the national runner-up. The Eagles suffered their only two losses at the finals site on the final day to Texas Lutheran.

The six other NCAA championship finals teams all made the top 10, with third-place national finishers Eastern Connecticut State (36-13) and Trine (37-8) ranked third and fourth; fifth-place finishers Williams (39-7) and Illinois Wesleyan (39-10) at fifth and sixth; and seventh-place finishers St. Thomas (43-7) and Randolph-Macon (30-17) at ninth and 10th, respectively.

Virginia Wesleyan (42-6) and Christopher Newport (37-9) were the other two teams in the top 10 to begin the year, while Linfield (39-8-1) and Lynchburg (37-15), who lost to the two national finalists in the NCAA super regionals, are 11th and 12th, respectively.

The NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll is selected by eight NCAA Division III head coaches representing the eight NCAA regions. Final 2019 records are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses.

NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll – Feb. 5, 2020