Northwestern College moved up one spot and finished the season ranked in the top 10 in the final NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ poll released Wednesday.
Ranked 11th in last week’s poll, Northwestern moved up to 10th after picking up two wins last week in postseason conference play. They lost to Morningside in the GPAC Championship last night and are 25-6 on the year, heading into next week’s NAIA D-II National Championship. Northwestern is joined in the final ranking by four other GPAC teams; Morningside (5), Briar Cliff (11), Dakota Wesleyan (20) and Hastings (RV).
IU East remains in the top spot after sharing the No.1 ranking with Cornerstone in the last edition of the poll. IU East earned 10 of the 12 possible first place votes and has a NAIA-best 31-2 overall record. Cornerstone dropped to No.2 after losing in its conference semifinals and received the final two first place votes with a 28-4 record. College of Idaho is third, followed by Indiana Wesleyan and Morningside.
2017-18 NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Final (Feb. 28)
| RANK | LAST WEEK^ | SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES) | 2017-18 RECORD | TOTAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | IU East (Ind.) (10) | 31-2 | 311 |
| 2 | 1 | Cornerstone (Mich.) (2) | 28-4 | 302 |
| 3 | 4 | College of Idaho | 27-6 | 293 |
| 4 | 5 | Indiana Wesleyan | 26-7 | 282 |
| 5 | 6 | Morningside (Iowa) | 26-6 | 269 |
| 6 | 3 | Indiana Tech | 26-6 | 264 |
| 7 | 8 | Saint Francis (Ind.) | 25-8 | 244 |
| 8 | 7 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 22-7 | 235 |
| 9 | 10 | Union (Ky.) | 23-7 | 234 |
| 10 | 11 | Northwestern (Iowa) | 25-6 | 217 |
| 11 | 9 | Briar Cliff (Iowa) | 24-7 | 199 |
| 12 | 13 | Warner Pacific (Ore.) | 23-9 | 197 |
| 13 | 12 | Southwestern (Kan.) | 26-7 | 191 |
| 14 | 16 | Governors State (Ill.) | 25-8 | 186 |
| 15 | 13 | IU Southeast (Ind.) | 23-8 | 178 |
| 16 | 19 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 25-8 | 166 |
| 17 | 17 | Stillman (Ala.) | 27-4 | 155 |
| 18 | 15 | Bethel (Ind.) | 22-9 | 145 |
| 19 | 20 | Roosevelt (Ill.) | 26-7 | 128 |
| 20 | 18 | Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) | 22-10 | 113 |
| T21 | RV | Southeastern (Fla.) | 21-9 | 97 |
| T21 | 21 | Oregon Tech | 22-10 | 97 |
| 23 | 22 | Bellevue (Neb.) | 21-11 | 94 |
| 24 | 24 | Marian (Ind.) | 20-11 | 67 |
| 25 | 25 | WVU Tech | 20-11 | 65 |
Others Receiving Votes: Keiser (Fla.) 60; Michigan-Dearborn 56; Trinity International (Ill.) 47; Antelope Valley (Calif.) 28; Jamestown (N.D.) 24; Southern Oregon 21; Hastings (Neb.) 12; Montreat (N.C.) 5; Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 4.
Dropped Out: Keiser (Fla.) (No. 23)
