KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Carroll College is one of four teams to receive first-place votes in the latest edition of the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, which was released Wednesday.
The Fighting Saints, playing in their first season under coach Kurt Paulson, have started the season winning 14 of their first 15 games to climb from 22nd in the preseason rankings to No. 3 in each of the past two polls. Carroll sits behind LSU Alexandria (La.) and William Penn (Iowa) in the rankings. LSU Alexandria received four first-place votes, while William Penn and Carroll each received two. Missouri Baptist, which is ranked eighth, received the other first-place vote.
Carroll’s lone loss was an 85-78 setback at the University of Calgary back on Dec. 7. The Saints have won their past three games, including a 76-68 win over Montana Tech on Dec. 29. Carroll hits the court against Rocky Mountain College on Thursday to continue Frontier Conference play.
The Battlin’ Bears started the season ranked 14th, but they’ve slipped out of the top 25 after losses to Arizona Christian and Benedictine University at Mesa at the Cactus Classic in Phoenix. Rocky defeated The King’s University and Dickinson State at its own Green and Gold Classic last week.
Joining Carroll in the top 25 are Frontier Conference teams Lewis-Clark State, which held steady at No. 10, and Providence, which went from unranked to 23rd in this week’s poll. The Warriors and Argos meet on Friday in Great Falls.
The view the complete NAIA men’s basketball top 25, please click here.
