Georgetown grabs #3, Freed-Hardeman #5 in NAIA Men's Basketball Preseason Top 25

10/22/2025 12:08:49 PM

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Georgetown (Ky.) Tigers, in third, pace the two other Mid-South Conference teams that found themselves in the NAIA Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the national office announced Wednesday.

Georgetown reached the national tournament quarterfinals in 2024-25 (the 22nd trip to the round in program history) and received two first-place votes in the rating. The Tigers open their season at home against Indiana University Southeast on Friday, October 24th.

Not far behind the Tigers sat the Freed-Hardeman Lions. Last season, the team completed their three-peat of the MSC Tournament Championship. Their objective to similarly repeat as NAIA Champions was cut short in the Fab Four, losing to Oklahoma Wesleyan by six points, 84-78.

The #20 University of the Cumberlands Patriots were the final MSC team mentioned in the poll. Their 2024-25 season ended in the NAIA Round of 16 to the #1-seeded Arizon Christian Firestorm.

Three MSC athletes were named as NAIA All-Americans in 2024-25 (one from each ranked team), none of whom return to their respective teams this season.

The College of Idaho led the rating with 11 first-place votes and 525 voting points. Arizona Christian was second with five first-place votes and 513 points and Langston (Okla.) received a single first-place vote to land fourth.

The first regular-season poll is set to be released Wednesday, November 12.

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.