KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The top three teams from the 2011-12 campaign appear atop the MIAA Coaches and Media preseason polls announced today by the MIAA. The top three teams selected this year mirror perfectly the way they finished the 2011-12 season and the top six in both the media and coaches polls are the same.
Washburn, who won both the MIAA regular season and post-season tournament, sits atop the poll, receiving eight first place votes from both the coaches and the media. Pittsburg State, who won the NCAA South Central Regional last year, are ranked second less than ten points behind Washburn in both polls. The third place squad is Emporia State, who fell to PSU in the regional championship, who received first place votes in both polls coming in just seven points behind PSU in the coaches poll.
The fourth spot is occupied by a team new to the MIAA, Northeastern State, who was eliminated by PSU in the regional. Fort Hays State and Central Missouri occupy the fifth and sixth spots in this year’s polls. The number seven and eight spot is where the polls begin to differ, the coaches picked Truman #7 and Central Oklahoma #8 while the media reversed the selection.
In the coaches poll Lincoln and Missouri Southern are tied for the #9 spot, while the media selected Lindenwood #9 and Southwest Baptist #10. Lincoln is #11 in the media poll, while Missouri Western is #12 in the media and #11 in the coaches poll. Lindenwood and Southwest Baptist are tied for the #12 spot in the coaches poll and Northwest Missouri is #14 and Nebraska-Kearney in the final spot.
In the media poll, Missouri Southern is #13 and Northwest Missouri and Nebraska-Kearney occupy the same spots they do in the coaches poll.
2012-13 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Washburn (8) 189
2. Pittsburg State (6) 178
3. Emporia State (1) 171
4. Northeastern State 154
5. Fort Hays State 139
6. Central Missouri 135
7. Truman 112
8. Central Oklahoma 110
T9. Lincoln 65
T9. Missouri Southern 65
11. Missouri Western 64
T12. Lindenwood 62
T12. Southwest Baptist 62
14. Northwest Missouri 51
15. Nebraska-Kearney 18
2012-13 MIAA Preseason Media Poll
1. Washburn (8) 257
2. Pittsburg State (8) 254
3. Emporia State (2) 235
4. Northeastern State 204
5. Fort Hays State 193
6. Central Missouri 183
7. Central Oklahoma 156
8. Truman 152
9. Lindenwood 117
10. Southwest Baptist 93
11. Lincoln 87
12. Missouri Western 69
13. Missouri Southern 65
14. Northwest Missouri 60
15. Nebraska-Kearney 35
Josh Slaughter is the Director of Communications for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.