BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Freed-Hardeman Lions lead all Mid-South Conference teams with their fifth-place ranking in the first regular-season NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25, the national office announced Wednesday.

The #5 Freed-Hardeman Lions are 4-1 on the short season, with their lone loss coming against the #9 Life Running Eagles away from home. Despite that defeat, the Lions are outscoring their opponents by 25 points per contest, forcing nearly seven-times as many turnovers as they commit.

The #12 Cumberlands Patriots moved up eight spots behind their 6-0 start to the year. They've been led by senior Kyle Duke has is averaging 22.2 points per game while shooting 57.1 percent from the floor and 52 percent from distance.

The #17 Georgetown Tigers fell 14 spots since the prior poll, starting 1-2 for the season. However, they recently bested #2 Arizona Christian, 76-75.

Indiana Wesleyan overtook the top spot with their six first-place votes and 489 voting points. Arizona Christian remained second, despite accumulating the most first-place votes (11) with 483 points. Northwestern (Iowa) was third with one first-place vote and 468 voting points while Grace (Ind.) was fourth with 436.

The second regular-season poll is set to be released Wednesday, November 26.

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.