KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the first poll of merged divisions, perennial NAIA Division I powerhouse Georgetown (Ky.) garnered 12 of the 21 first-place votes to begin the season on top in the preseason edition released on Wednesday. Mid-America Christian and Indiana Wesleyan followed close behind at Nos. 2 and 3 while William Penn (Iowa) and Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) rounded-out the top five.
2020-21 NAIA Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Preseason (October 14, 2020)
| RANK | LAST YEAR (Division) | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | 2019-20 RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 (I) | Georgetown (Ky.) [12] | 30-2 | 578 |
| 2 | 2 (I) | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) [3] | 30-2 | 563 |
| 3 | 2 (II) | Indiana Wesleyan [5] | 29-4 | 555 |
| 4 | 5 (I) | William Penn (Iowa) | 30-3 | 512 |
| 5 | 6 (I) | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) [1] | 29-3 | 506 |
| 6 | 3 (I) | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 29-3 | 498 |
| 7 | 3 (II) | Morningside (Iowa) | 27-3 | 467 |
| 8 | 1 (II) | College of Idaho | 31-3 | 436 |
| 9 | 17 (I) | Arizona Christian | 25-8 | 426 |
| 10 | 9 (I) | John Brown (Ark.) | 28-5 | 407 |
| 11 | 16 (I) | Providence (Mont.) | 24-8 | 360 |
| 12 | 6 (II) | Marian (Ind.) | 25-7 | 328 |
| 13 | 13 (I) | LSU Alexandria (La.) | 25-6 | 293 |
| 14 | 5 (II) | Ottawa (Kan.) | 28-6 | 283 |
| 15 | 14 (I) | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 24-8 | 282 |
| 16 | 21 (I) | Loyola (La.) | 23-10 | 278 |
| 17 | 4 (II) | Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) | 30-3 | 268 |
| 18 | 4 (I) | Dalton State (Ga.) | 30-3 | 257 |
| 19 | 19 (I) | The Master’s (Calif.) | 23-8 | 231 |
| 20 | 10 (I) | Xavier (La.) | 27-6 | 193 |
| 21 | 12 (I) | Carroll (Mont.) | 24-9 | 176 |
| 22 | 11 (I) | SAGU (Texas) | 25-7 | 161 |
| 23 | 7 (II) | Oregon Tech | 26-7 | 149 |
| 24 | 16 (II) | Union (Ky.) | 24-10 | 138 |
| 25 | 9 (II) | Antelope Valley (Calif.) | 28-4 | 115 |
Others Receiving Votes: Thomas More (Ky.) 108, Westmont (Calif.) 107, Southeastern (Fla.) 97, Oklahoma Wesleyan 91, Saint Francis (Ind.) 67, Indiana Tech 55, Central Baptist (Ark.) 43, Washington Adventist (Md.) 39, Holy Cross (Ind.) 39, Faulkner (Ala.) 39, Bellevue (Neb.) 36, Indiana East (Ind.) 36, Park (Mo.) 35, Northwestern (Iowa) 31, Talladega (Ala.) 16, Dillard (La.) 9, Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) 7, Southern Oregon 4, Shawnee State (Ohio) 4, Cornerstone (Mich.) 4, Dordt (Iowa) 4.
