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Tuesday was a good day for the basketball teams at Montana State University-Northern. The first regular season NAIA Coaches Polls were released Tuesday afternoon, and both the Lights and Skylights garnered national rankings.
The Northern men (10-2) moved up to No. 16 in the poll. The Lights were ranked No. 24 in the Preseason Poll, released back in October. Meanwhile, the Skylights (9-0) made a huge junp. Northern was nowhere to be found in the Preseason Poll, and picked to finish sixth in the Frontier Conference this season. But Northern hasn’t lost a non-conference game yet this season, and is 1-0 in the Frontier, which has led to a No. 24 ranking in the first NAIA Women’s Coaches Poll of the season.
The Skylights are making their first appearance in the NAIA Top 25 in five seasons. MSU-N has garnered votes in other years but hasn’t been able to crack the Top 25 in some time. Head coach Chris Mouat’s Skylights have a week off, before returning to the Armory Gymnasium to host the Duck Inn Holiday Classic Dec. 19-21.
Carroll College is the highest ranked women’s team. Despite losing at Northern two weeks ago, the Saints rose to No. 16 in the new poll. Lewis-Clark State and Westminster College received votes.
Meanwhile, the MSU-N Lights certainly have gained plenty of respect this season. The Lights’ only two losses came at the hands of NCAA DII New Mexico Highlands and NAIA power Arizona Christian. ASC is currently ranked No. 6. The Lights are off until the end of December, when they’ll host Northwest Indian College for a pair of games in Havre.
Rocky Mountain College is the top Frontier team in the new poll. The Battlin’ Bears moved up to No. 10 in the poll. They were ranked No. 17 in the NAIA Preseason Poll. UM-Western and Westminster received votes in the first regular season poll.
NAIA Men's Coaches Poll
Rn. Prv. Rec. Pts.
1 4 Columbia (Mo.) (8) 8-0 249
2 1 Georgetown (Ky.) (1) 9-1 235
T3 7 Pikeville (Ky.) (1) 7-1 233
T3 5 SAGU (Texas) 5-1 233
5 9 Evangel (Mo.) 9-1 219
6 16 Arizona Christian 8-0 205
7 14 John Brown (Ark.) 10-0 202
8 12 Cal State San Marcos 9-1 193
9 T10 William Carey (Miss.) 4-1 188
10 17 Rocky Mountain 9-2 176
11 NR Talladega (Ala.) 13-2 165
12 6 Concordia (Calif.) 8-2 157
13 25 Benedictine (Kan.) 8-1 153
14 NR Philander Smith (Ark.) 7-2 131
15 NR Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 6-0 126
16 T24 Montana State-Northern 10-2 114
17 13 Faulkner (Ala.) 7-3 113
18 18 Culver-Stockton (Mo.) 8-1 110
19 NR St. Gregory's (Okla.) 8-1 103
T20 23 Life (Ga.) 8-5 102
T20 NR Wiley (Texas) 6-1 102
22 NR Hope International 7-1 94
23 NR Cumberland (Tenn.) 7-0 92
24 22 Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 7-3 59
25 19 Xavier (La.) 7-3 54
Others receiving votes: Emmanuel (Ga.) 36; Montana Western 34; St. Catharine (Ky.) 29; MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 28; Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 23; Southern-New Orleans (La.) 10; Graceland (Iowa) 7; Vanguard (Calif.) 4; Westminster (Utah) 3; Southern Wesleyan (S.C.) 3; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 3.
NAIA Women's Coaches Poll
Rn. Prv. Rec. Pts.
1 1 Vanguard (Calif.) 6-0 250
2 2 Oklahoma City 3-0 241
3 6 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 7-0 235
4 5 Westminster (Utah) 5-1 224
5 4 Georgetown (Ky.) 4-1 220
6 8 MidAmerica Naz. 8-1 209
7 9 Campbellsville (Ky.) 7-0 203
8 3 Westmont (Calif.) 3-3 185
9 23 Oklahoma Baptist 7-1 184
10 16 Bethel (Tenn.) 7-2 179
11 17 Lady of the Lake (Texas) 5-0 165
12 10 The Master's (Calif.) 6-3 160
13 RV Talladega (Ala.) 10-0 157
14 RV Coastal Georgia 12-0 142
15 12 Benedictine (Kan.) 7-3 132
16 18 Carroll (Mont.) 6-3 121
17 RV John Brown (Ark.) 7-1 119
18 22 Wiley (Texas) 8-1 114
19 RV Central Methodist (Mo.) 8-1 101
20 21 Cumberlands (Ky.) 2-3 99
21 13 Columbia (Mo.) 4-3 80
22 7 Cumberland (Tenn.) 3-4 74
23 NR Emmanuel (Ga.) 7-2 70
24 NR Montana State-Northern 9-0 62
25 19 William Woods (Mo.) 5-2 59
Others Receiving Votes: Hope International (Calif.) 50; LSU Shreveport (La.) 47; Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 25; Xavier (La.) 22; Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 19; Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 16; Martin Methodist (Tenn.) 10; San Diego Christian (Calif.) 6; Southern Poly (Ga.) 6; Lyon (Ark.) 5.
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