KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Carroll College Fighting Saints will enter the postseason with the No. 9 national ranking after the NAIA released its final top 25 coaches poll of the regular season on Wednesday.
The Fighting Saints, 24-6 overall, dropped two spots in the regular season’s final look at the top 25 teams. Carroll fell to Lewis-Clark State 76-60 in the Frontier Conference tournament championship on Tuesday evening. The Warriors are ranked No. 12 in the poll.
No other Frontier Conference teams are ranked.
The University of Providence (18-12) fell from the top 25 after losing five of seven, including a Frontier Conference tournament loss at MSU-Northern. Rocky Mountain College (19-12) is the first team in the receiving votes category. The Battlin’ Bears won three consecutive games before falling to Carroll in the regular season finale. Rocky then dropped its tournament game against Montana Tech.
Lewis-Clark State earned the league’s automatic berth to the national tournament, while the Fighting Saints, Battlin’ Bears and Argos will learn their postseason fate next Wednesday, March 13, during the annual national tournament selection show.
The final regular season coaches poll can be found below.
2018-19 NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Poll 6 (Feb. 26, 2019)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 2 | Benedictine (Kan.) [8] | 26-2 | 219 |
| 2 | 1 | LSU Alexandria (La.) [1] | 27-3 | 212 |
| 3 | 4 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 25-4 | 201 |
| 4 | 8 | Tougaloo (Miss.) | 24-4 | 187 |
| 5 | 10 | The Master’s (Calif.) | 24-5 | 182 |
| 5 | 5 | Stillman (Ala.) | 26-4 | 182 |
| 5 | 9 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 24-6 | 182 |
| 8 | 3 | Missouri Baptist | 27-3 | 178 |
| 9 | 7 | Carroll (Mont.) | 24-6 | 174 |
| 10 | 6 | Vanguard (Calif.) | 24-5 | 150 |
| 10 | 12 | Wiley (Texas) | 22-5 | 150 |
| 12 | 13 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 24-6 | 147 |
| 13 | 11 | Pikeville (Ky.) | 22-7 | 135 |
| 14 | 15 | William Carey (Miss.) | 22-8 | 124 |
| 15 | 20 | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 21-9 | 118 |
| 16 | 16 | William Penn (Iowa) | 20-8 | 109 |
| 17 | 19 | Bethel (Tenn.) | 23-7 | 105 |
| 18 | 23 | John Brown (Ark.) | 21-9 | 96 |
| 19 | 17 | William Jessup (Calif.) | 20-9 | 92 |
| 20 | NR | Talladega (Ala.) | 23-6 | 80 |
| 21 | 21 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 21-9 | 79 |
| 22 | NR | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 20-9 | 77 |
| 23 | 24 | Arizona Christian | 22-7 | 51 |
| 24 | 14 | Peru State (Neb.) | 18-10 | 50 |
| 25 | NR | Campbellsville (Ky.) | 21-8 | 49 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Providence (Mont.), Dillard (La.), Oklahoma City
Others Receiving Votes: Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 32, Langston (Okla.) 31, St. Thomas (Texas) 29, Hope International (Calif.) 28, Providence (Mont.) 19, Loyola (La.) 17, Dillard (La.) 6, Oklahoma City 5.
