BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Cumberlands (Ky.) ended the 2026 season at No. 14 in the NAIA Baseball Top-25 Postseason Poll, NAIA officials announced on Wednesday.

The Patriots concluded the season with a 48-10 record, including winning the Mid-South Conference regular-season and tournament titles. Cumberlands received 165 voting points from the national raters.

Cumberlands closed out the season in an NAIA Opening Round, falling to No. 3 William Carey (Miss.) in the tournament finals.

NAIA National Champions Tennessee Wesleyan is No. 1 with 360 voting points, followed by Taylor (Ind.) with 348 voting points and William Carey.

 

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.