NC Oklahoma News

The Langston University men's basketball team enters the top five for the first time since the 2018-19 season in the fourth edition of NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, the national office announced.

Langston is the only undefeated team in the NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll at 15-0 and ranked third overall with 520 total votes and also received one first-place vote. The Lions are the highest rated team in the Sooner Athletic Conference and ranked in the NAIA Top-25 for the third consecutive NAIA Coaches Top 25 Poll. 

Today's poll marks the highest the Lions have been ranked in the NAIA Coaches Top 25 Poll. The previous high was fourth overall on January 2, 2019.

Statistically, the Lions are first in steals per game (3.7), second in the NAIA in net efficiency (0.326), third in points allowed per game (59.7) and sixth in offensive efficiency (1.177). Langston is also outscoring opponents by an average of 24.2 points per game.

Langston returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 12 versus Southwestern Assemblies of God in Waxahachie, Texas. The Lions next home matchup is set for January 19th versus Mid-America Christian.

Poll Methodology:

• The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and Continental Athletic Conference (Independents).
• The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place and so on through the list.
• The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low ratings) is removed and the team's ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appear on.
• Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered "receiving votes"
• Frequency of polls occur bi-weekly. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) beginning in the 2016-17 academic season. This change will allow raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work in between rating periods.
• For the complete NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll, click here. https://www.naia.org/sports/mbkb/2022-23/releases/MBB_Poll4_1_11_23

Original source can be found here