KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Dalton State (Ga.) headlines this week's NAIA Men's Soccer Netting Professionals Top 25 Coaches' Poll after experiencing its first setback of the season. The Roadrunners, who held the No. 1 ranking last week, slipped to No. 10 following an 8-1-3 start. Despite the drop, Dalton State remains firmly in the national conversation as one of the top programs in the country.
 
Oklahoma Wesleyan surged to the top spot, climbing two positions to No. 1 with an unbeaten 9-0-3 record. MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) and Bethel (Ind.) continued their upward trend, landing at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Keiser (Fla.) and Cumberlands (Ky.) also strengthened their positions inside the top 10.
 
Life (Ga.) delivered one of the week's biggest moves, jumping four spots to No. 12 behind an undefeated 10-0-2 mark, while Bethel (Tenn.) made a six-place leap to No. 18. Bellevue (Neb.) endured the steepest drop, sliding from No. 11 to No. 24, and Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) along with Marian (Ind.) also fell several spots. Ottawa (Kan.) entered the poll for the first time this season at No. 25.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
This is the 107^th NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll to be released since the men's soccer program has been eligible for national rankings. They have achieved a national ranking or received votes in 80 of the 107 polls. They have 29 top 5 poll appearances all-time with 50 consecutive poll rankings. Men's soccer has been ranked #1 on eleven occasions with the last occurring on the October 1, 2025 poll announcement.
 

RANK	LAST POLL	INSTITUTION	RECORD	POINTS
1	3	Oklahoma Wesleyan	9-0-3	501
2	4	MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)	8-1-3	482
3	5	Bethel (Ind.)	10-1-2	466
4	6	Keiser (Fla.)	10-0-1	452
5	2	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	8-2-1	419
6	8	Cumberlands (Ky.)	6-3-4	400
7	9	William Carey (Miss.)	10-2-1	389
8	7	William Penn (Iowa)	7-2-3	359
9	10	Indiana Wesleyan (Ind.)	8-2-3	357
10	1	Dalton State (Ga.)	8-1-3	353
11	12	LSU Shreveport (La.)	8-0-5	339
12	16	Life (Ga.)	10-0-2	328
13	14	Cumberland (Tenn.)	10-1-3	285
14	13	Grand View (Iowa)	10-1-3	284
15	15	Georgia Gwinnett	7-2-3	247
16	17	Indiana Tech	10-3-1	244
17	18	Madonna (Mich.)	12-1-1	206
18	24	Bethel (Tenn.)	7-0-2	162
19	22	WVU Tech (W.V.)	10-0-2	153
20	21	Grace College (Ind.)	9-3-2	146
21	20	Xavier (La.)	7-2-1	124
22	23	Northwestern Ohio	11-2-1	120
23	19	Marian (Ind.)	7-3-4	95
24	11	Bellevue (Neb.)	8-6-1	94
25	RV	Ottawa (Kan.)	7-1-5	67

 
Receiving Votes: Rio Grande (Ohio) 65, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 61, Midland (Neb.) 56, Eastern Oregon 55, Central Methodist (Mo.) 51, Stanton (Calif.) 26, Carroll (Mont.) 21, St. Thomas (Fla.) 20, LSU Alexandria (La.) 15, John Brown (Ark.) 14, Spring Arbor (Mich.) 13, Union Commonwealth (Ky.) 13, Baker (Kan.) 12, Southern Oregon 12, Westcliff (Calif.) 9, Oklahoma City 5, Missouri Valley 4, Faulkner (Ala.) 3, Florida National 2, Milligan (Tenn.) 2.
 
Poll Methodology

• The national poll is for publicity purposes only and does not influence the selection process for national championship consideration.
• A panel of head coaches representing each conference and the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) votes in the poll.
• The Top 25 teams are selected using a points-based system:
  • 30 points for a 1st-place vote, 29 for 2nd, 28 for 3rd, and so on.
• The highest and lowest rankings received by each team are discarded before final tallying.
• Teams receiving only one point are not listed as "receiving votes."
• For the Preseason Poll, there is no "previous ranking" column since it is the initial poll and differs from the prior rating system. 

 
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FIND NEWS AND FOLLOW THE BIRDS: News and updates from Dalton State's men's soccer team are posted on dsroadrunners.com and on X (@DStateSoccer), Facebook (@DStateSoccer) and Instagram (daltonstatesoccer). Be sure to follow to keep pace with the Birds!  
 
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