KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After finishing the year as GPAC regular season co-champions, the Northwestern men’s basketball team enters the postseason ranked No. 13 in the final NAIA Coaches’ Poll. They drop one spot from their previous ranking at No. 12.
The Raiders earned the top seed in the tournament after winning five of their last six regular season games. Last week, Northwestern completed its first undefeated home slate since 2001-02 with wins over Morningside and Dordt.
Only one change was made to the top five as Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) jumped from the No. 8 slot to No. 5. Grace (Ind.) remained at the top of the poll, with Langston (Okla.), College of Idaho, and Oklahoma Wesleyan following. In the GPAC, Concordia is ranked #20. Hastings is receiving votes.
| RANK | LAST TIME | SCHOOL [First Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Grace (Ind.) [17] | 27-1 | 538 |
| 2 | 2 | Langston (Okla.) [3] | 27-1 | 521 |
| 3 | 3 | College of Idaho | 26-2 | 507 |
| 4 | 4 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 26-2 | 476 |
| 5 | 8 | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | 24-4 | 460 |
| 6 | 6 | Indiana Wesleyan | 24-4 | 451 |
| 7 | 5 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 25-3 | 442 |
| 8 | 10 | Montana Tech | 24-4 | 415 |
| 9 | 9 | Southwestern (Kan.) | 23-4 | 364 |
| 10 | 15 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 24-4 | 345 |
| 11 | 11 | Roosevelt (Ill.) | 23-4 | 339 |
| 12 | 7 | Tennessee Southern | 24-4 | 328 |
| 13 | 12 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 22-6 | 311 |
| 14 | 14 | Madonna (Mich.) | 23-5 | 305 |
| 15 | 17 | Point Park (Pa.) | 26-2 | 255 |
| 16 | 23 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 21-6 | 242 |
| 17 | 16 | Oregon Tech | 23-5 | 231 |
| 18 | 24 | Arizona Christian | 21-7 | 226 |
| 19 | 18 | Florida College | 24-4 | 220 |
| 20 | 21 | Concordia (Neb.) | 22-6 | 187 |
| 21 | RV | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 20-7 | 172 |
| 22 | RV | Marian (Ind.) | 22-6 | 171 |
| 23 | 20 | The Master’s (Calif.) | 21-7 | 157 |
| 24 | 25 | SAGU (Texas) | 20-8 | 110 |
| 25 | RV | Florida Memorial | 22-6 | 65 |
| 25 | RV | Antelope Valley (Calif.) | 24-4 | 65 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Lourdes (Ohio), Mobile (Ala.), Bethel (Ind.)
Receiving Votes: LSU Alexandria (La.) 58, Lourdes (Ohio) 31, Cornerstone (Mich.) 30, Kansas Wesleyan 30, Union (Ky.) 29, Columbia (Mo.) 28, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 23, Huntington (Ind.) 22, LSU Shreveport (La.) 19, St. Mary-Woods (Ind.) 19, Hope International (Calif.) 16,Hastings (Neb.) 12, Ave Maria (Fla.) 10, Central Baptist (Ark.) 10, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 6, Mobile (Ala.) 5, OUAZ (Ariz.) 3, Texas College 2, Stillman (Ala.) 2.
