The first NAIA D-I Men’s Basketball Coaches Top 25 Poll for 2017 was released on Tuesday. Oklahoma City and Mid-America Christian find themselves in the same places they were in from the last ranking.
OCU (11-1), who stayed at No. 5, took its first loss of the season at Haskell the week before Christmas and then started a new winning streak with a win at Philander Smith in its last contest (excluding an exhibition) before the Christmas break.
The defending national champions, MACU (10-3) has lost two of its last three, but remained in the No. 10 spot. The Evangels fell, 103-97 in overtime, Monday night at Philander Smith.
The two are headed for a top 10-battle as they face each other on Thursday for the first of their two Sooner Athletic Conference meetings. Tip time is set for 8 p.m. at Abe Lemons Arena in Oklahoma City.
Langston fell out of the top 25, but still received votes in this week’s poll.
Complete poll:
| Rank | Previous | School (First-place votes) | 2016-17 Record | Total points |
| 1 | 2 | LSU Alexandria (La.) (10) | 13-0 | 250 |
| 2 | 2 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 13-1 | 236 |
| 3 | 1 | Biola (Calif.) | 14-1 | 233 |
| 4 | 4 | William Penn (Iowa) | 11-1 | 232 |
| 5 | 5 | Oklahoma City | 11-1 | 212 |
| 6 | 7 | Columbia (Mo.) | 14-1 | 211 |
| 7 | 9 | Westmont (Calif.) | 13-1 | 197 |
| 8 | 11 | Wiley (Texas) | 13-1 | 188 |
| 9 | NR | Dalton State (Ga.) | 10-1 | 177 |
| 10 | 10 | Mid-America Christian | 10-2 | 175 |
| 11 | 17 | Montana Western | 12-2 | 170 |
| 12 | 14 | Pikeville (Ky.) | 14-3 | 169 |
| 13 | 18 | Talladega (Ala.) | 13-4 | 155 |
| 14 | 25 | Arizona Christian | 12-1 | 130 |
| 15 | RV | Montana State-Northern | 13-1 | 126 |
| 16 | 19 | Texas Wesleyan | 11-2 | 123 |
| 17 | 23 | Benedictine (Kan.) | 9-3 | 120 |
| 18 | 8 | William Carey (Miss.) | 8-3 | 101 |
| 19 | NR | William Woods (Mo.) | 11-3 | 99 |
| 20 | RV | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 12-3 | 92 |
| 21 | 16 | Dillard (La.) | 8-5 | 76 |
| 21 | NR | The Master’s (Calif.) | 11-1 | 76 |
| 23 | 6 | Carroll (Mont.) | 11-3 | 71 |
| 23 | RV | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 9-3 | 71 |
| 25 | 12 | Park (Mo.) | 7-3 | 66 |
Dropped from rankings: No. 13 Grand View (Iowa), No. 15 Hope International (Calif.), No. 20 Langston (Okla.), No. 21 Wayland Baptist (Texas), No. 22 Loyola (La.), No. 24 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.).
Others Receiving Votes: Grand View (Iowa) 65; SAGU (Texas) 43; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 23; Faulkner (Ala.) 21; Graceland (Iowa) 15; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 12; Langston 10; Hope International (Calif.) 9; Loyola (La.) 5; Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 3.