The Kansas Wesleyan Men’s Soccer team is ranked No. 18 in the NAIA Men’s Soccer Top 25 Preseason Poll released on Wednesday by the NAIA National Office.

The Coyotes were ranked No. 19 in the final poll last December after a 17-5 season in 2018, winning the KCAC Regular Season and Tournament Championships and tying the school record for wins in a season.

Wesleyan opens a challenging non-conference slate on August 31 at The Master’s (Calif.). The Master’s is receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Poll. Wesleyan’s second opponent of the season, Westmont (Calif.) is also receiving votes.

KWU also faces several other ranked opponents on the season including No. 2 Missouri Valley (Sept. 14 in Salina), at No. 6 Oklahoma Wesleyan (Nov. 2), No. 15 Hastings (Sept. 6 in Salina) and at No. 23 Science and Arts (Okla.) (Sept. 17).

Defending National Champion Central Methodist (Mo.) claims the No. 1 spot in the NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll.

Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000):

Central Methodist (Mo.) claims the second No. 1-ranking in program history. The Eagles took home the red banner in 2018, finishing the season 22-2-2.

The Eagles of Central Methodist received all 18 first place votes in the first Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll of the season.

Missouri Valley came in at the No. 2 spot. The Vikings were national runners-up in 2018 as well as national runner-up in 2017 season.

There are two newcomers to the poll including No. 23 Science & Arts (Okla.) and No. 25 Southeastern (Fla.)

The top ten team remained the same from the 2018 postseason poll released December of 2018.

Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) holds the record as the longest consecutively ranked active school at 129-straight polls, dating back to the first installment of the Top 25 in 2007. Rio Grande (Ohio) is second on the list with 119 consecutive polls.

Poll Methodology

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences, Association of Independent Institutions and Unaffiliated Groups.

The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place and so on through the list.

The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low rating) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.

Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes.”