MSU-N men ranked to start the season

The Montana State University-Northern Lights are already 4-1 early in the 2011-12 basketball season. Now, the Lights can add the No. 15 ranking in the NAIA to their list as the season starts to heat up.

The NAIA Top 25 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll was released recently and the Lights will start the year ranked 15th. Northern finished as the No. 19 in the final NAIA poll last spring after the Lights won a Frontier Conference championship and advanced to the first round of the NAIA national tournament.

Northern, which was picked to win the Frontier title this season, is only one of two Frontier Conference teams ranked to start the season. Carroll College sits at No. 23 in the first poll. The Saints also went to the national tourney a year ago and finished as the No. 22 in last season's final poll. UM-Western, which too went to the big dance last season, received 12 votes in the preseason poll, while Westminster College received three votes.

Defending NAIA national champion Pikesville of Kentucky starts the year as the No. 1 team in the country. Other than the other Frontier teams which are rated, the Lights don't have any games scheduled against current Top 25 teams.

On the women's side, Frontier Conference powerhouse Lewis-Clark State begins the year ranked No. 5. Westminster starts the year ranked No. 9, while Carroll and Rocky Mountain College received votes in the NAIA Women's Preseason Coaches Poll.

The first regular season men's and women's polls will be released Dec. 5.

The Lights return to the floor this Thursday with a three-game road trip to Oregon. The MSU-Northern Skylights are back in action on Monday when they travel to Missoula to take on the University of Montana Lady Griz.

NAIA Preseason Men's Top 25

1. Pikeville (Ky) 300

2. Mountain State (W. Va) 295

3. Robert Morris 293

4. Concordia (Calif) 288

5. Martin Methodist 268

6. LSU Shreveport 255

7. Oklahoma Baptist 254

8. Georgetown (Ky) 240

9. Azusa Pacific 233

10. Texas Wesleyn 223

11. Rogers State 202

12. Shorter (Ga) 188

13. Tougaloo (Miss) 185

14. Columbia (Mo) 166

15. Biola 158

15. MSU-Northern 158

17. St. Catherine (Ky) 149

18. Southern Nazarene 141

19. Evangel (Mo) 132

20. Southern Poly (Ga) 121

21. Xavier (La) 94

22. Union (Tenn) 88

23. Carroll 75

24. Saint Xavcier (Ill) 66

25. Fresno Pacific 63

Others receiving votes: Park (Mo.) 55; Lee (Tenn.) 45; MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 33; Mobile (Ala.) 31; Oklahoma Christian 26; Campbellsville (Ky.) 24; Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 22; Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 21; Life (Ga.) 16; Montana Western 12; Westminster (Utah) 3.

NAIA Preseason Women's Top 25

NAIA Women's Preseason Top 25

1. Azusa Pacific 312

2. Union (Tenn) 202

3. Oklahoma City 290

4. Shawnee State 280

5. Lewis-Clark State 266

6. Freed-Hardeman 248

6. Bethel (Tenn) 248

8. Campblesville (KY) 234

9. Westminster 222

10. Vangaurd 221

11. Southern Nazarene 220

12. Olivet Nazarene (Ill) 202

13. Saint Xavier (Ill) 179

14. Lindsey Wilson 175

15. Lee (Tenn) 174

16. Xavier (La) 166

17. Lubbock Christian 158

18. Columbia (Mo) 157

19. Langston (Okla) 152

20. Westmont (Calif) 124

21. Shorter (Ga) 110

22. Evangel (Mo) 85

23. William Woods 77

24. Rogers State (Okla) 72

25. Belhaven (Miss) 58

Others receiving votes: The Master's (Calif.) 57; Carroll (Mont.) 39; Cumberlands (Ky.) 26; Southern Poly (Ga.) 22; Robert Morris (Ill.) 18; Avila (Mo.) 15; Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) 11; Texas Wesleyan 10; Southern-New Orleans (La.) 9; Loyola (La.) 7; Wayland Baptist (Texas) 5; (Ark.) 4; Biola (Calif.) 3; Voorhees (S.C.) 1; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 1; Benedictine (Kan.) 1; Georgetown (Ky.) 1.