BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Three Mid-South Conference teams are ranked and a fourth garnered a mention in the NAIA Women's Golf Preseason Coaches’ Top 25 Poll, NAIA officials announced on Friday.

Cumberland (Tenn.), Cumberlands (Ky.), and Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) are all ranked in the first ranking of the 2025-26 season, while Bethel (Tenn.) is outside the top 25 but receiving voting points.

Lindsey Wilson leads the MSC teams at No. 9 in the poll with 306 voting points from the national raters. The Blue Raiders finished ninth at the 2025 NAIA National Championship. Lindsey Wilson opens the season Sept. 21-23 at the Carey Collegiate.

Cumberlands checks in at No. 11 after receiving 247 voting points. The Patriots finished 12th at the national championship last year. Cumberlands opens its season at the Indiana Wesleyan's Rohrman Invite on Sept. 8-9.

Cumberland picked up 141 voting points and is ranked No. 22 in the poll. The Phoenix join Cumberlands early next month at the Rohrman Invite to kick off their season.

Bethel received three voting points from the national raters. The Wildcats begin their season on Sept. 6-7 at the Skyhawk Invitational hosted by Point (Ga.).

Keiser (Fla.) sits atop the preseason poll with 405 voting points. British Columbia is second with 404 voting points, followed by SCAD Savannah at third with 385 voting points. Marian (Ind.) (362 voting points) and Texas Wesleyan (360) complete the top five.

The first regular-season poll is scheduled to be released on Friday, Oct. 17.

 

Ratings Methodology

·        The rating is rated by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and unaffiliated groupings.

·        The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each rater rates the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place, 28 for third-place, and so on through the list.

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

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