KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The first regular-season edition of the 2026 GoRout NAIA Baseball Coaches' Top 25 Poll is out, and a familiar name is at the top, as defending national champion LSU Shreveport (La.) continues as the No. 1-ranked team in NAIA baseball.
The Braves enter the top 25 at no. 20. OU is 17-3 overall and 9-2 in the KCAC. Through 20 games this season, Ottawa has scored 202 runs, has a .314 batting average, a .441 on base percentage, a .483 slugging percentage, and has hit 16 home runs. The OU pitching staff has a 4.12 ERA, striking out 164 in 164 innings. Opponents have a .212 batting average against the Brave pitching staff.
Right behind the Pilots, Georgia Gwinnett remained No. 2 from the preseason poll to the first of the regular season, and the only other team to stay in place was No. 6 Cumberlands (Ky.). Johnson (Tenn.), from No. 18 to No. 5, and Bellevue (Neb.), from No. 22 to No. 7, made the largest leaps into the top 10, while eight teams made their way into the Top 25 for the first time in 2026. Among those eight are Faulkner (Ala.), at No. 13, and No. 14 Louisiana Christian.
| Trend |
Rank |
Last |
|
Institution [First-Place Votes] |
Record |
Pts. |
| ? |
1 |
1 |
 |
LSU Shreveport (La.) [13] |
18-3 |
420 |
| ? |
2 |
2 |
 |
Georgia Gwinnett |
18-1 |
399 |
| ? |
3 |
9 |
 |
Taylor (Ind.) |
16-1 |
395 |
| ? |
4 |
5 |
 |
Tennessee Wesleyan |
16-5 |
356 |
| ? |
5 |
18 |
 |
Johnson (Tenn.) |
17-1 |
341 |
| ? |
6 |
6 |
 |
Cumberlands (Ky.) |
13-3 |
338 |
| ? |
7 |
22 |
 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
12-2 |
330 |
| ? |
8 |
3 |
 |
Southeastern (Fla.) |
12-6 |
325 |
| ? |
9 |
7 |
 |
Loyola (La.) |
15-6 |
293 |
| ? |
10 |
4 |
 |
Hope International (Calif.) |
13-6 |
283 |
| ? |
11 |
12 |
 |
Missouri Baptist |
9-3 |
271 |
| ? |
12 |
21 |
 |
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) |
12-2 |
256 |
| ? |
13 |
RV |
 |
Faulkner (Ala.) |
11-6 |
222 |
| ? |
14 |
NR |
 |
Louisiana Christian |
19-4 |
204 |
| ? |
15 |
11 |
 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
14-6 |
190 |
| ? |
16 |
19 |
 |
Mid-America Christian (Okla.) |
14-5 |
184 |
| ? |
17 |
RV |
 |
St. Thomas (Fla.) |
11-7 |
154 |
| ? |
18 |
16 |
 |
Concordia (Neb.) |
11-3 |
143 |
| ? |
19 |
RV |
 |
Kansas Wesleyan |
15-3 |
134 |
| ? |
20 |
RV |
 |
Ottawa (Kan.) |
17-3 |
133 |
| ? |
21 |
NR |
 |
Doane (Neb.) |
11-2 |
129 |
| ? |
22 |
24 |
 |
Keiser (Fla.) |
13-5 |
122 |
| ? |
23 |
17 |
 |
Wayland Baptist (Texas) |
16-7 |
91 |
| ? |
24 |
NR |
 |
Huntington (Ind.) |
14-1 |
74 |
| ? |
25 |
RV |
 |
Oakland City (Ind.) |
17-2 |
71 |
Key: RV - Receiving Votes, NR - Not Ranked, ?- Climbed, ?- Dropped, ? - Steady
Dropped out of the Top 25: Arizona Christian, British Columbia, Central Methodist (Mo.), Columbia (Mo.), Oklahoma Wesleyan, Reinhardt (Ga.), Texas A&M - Victoria, Webber International (Fla.).
Receiving Votes: Oklahoma Wesleyan 66, Arizona Christian 64, Webber International (Fla.) 59, British Columbia 55, OUAZ (Ariz.) 40, Milligan (Tenn.) 34, Texas Wesleyan 30, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 21, Texas A&M - Victoria 12, Abraham Baldwin (Ga.) 10, Indiana Tech 9, Campbellsville (Ky.) 6, Montreat (N.C.) 6, Marian (Ind.) 3.
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.
