KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- After last year's runner-up finish, Carroll College has climbed back into the top 10 of the NAIA men's basketball top 25 poll.
The latest rankings, which were released Wednesday, have the Saints at No. 9, up 14 spots from their previous No. 23 ranking. Prior to the release of the rankings, Carroll handed Providence its first loss of the 2019-20 season, which dropped Steve Keller's Argos from seventh to eighth in the poll.
Fellow Frontier Conference team Lewis-Clark State is also ranked at No. 12. No other Frontier teams received votes in the poll.
Including Wednesday night's triple-overtime win at Rocky Mountain College, Carroll is 14-3 overall, having won eight consecutive games under second-year coach Kurt Paulson. The Saints are 5-0 in conference play and return to action Friday against Montana Western.
Providence started the season winning its first 15 games, but the Argos lost to Carroll, 93-88, last Saturday. They'll look to get back on track Thursday night at Montana Tech.
Reigning national champion Georgetown (Ky.) maintained its hold on the No. 1 ranking, but there was some movement in the top five. Mid-America Christian (Okla.) moved up one to second, William Penn (Iowa) climbed two spots to third, Westmont (Calif.) vaulted seven spots to fourth, and LSU Shreveport (La.) climbed one place to fifth. The Master's (Calif.) fell from second to seventh in the poll, which is below.
2019-20 NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Poll 3 (January 15, 2020)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Georgetown (Ky.) [9] | 15-0 | 219 |
| 2 | 3 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | 15-0 | 212 |
| 3 | 5 | William Penn (Iowa) | 14-1 | 204 |
| 4 | 11 | Westmont (Calif.) | 17-1 | 199 |
| 5 | 6 | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 15-2 | 189 |
| 6 | 19 | Dalton State (Ga.) | 15-1 | 185 |
| 7 | 2 | The Master's (Calif.) | 14-3 | 168 |
| 8 | 7 | Providence (Mont.) | 15-1 | 167 |
| 9 | 23 | Carroll (Mont.) | 13-3 | 166 |
| 10 | 10 | John Brown (Ark.) | 13-2 | 158 |
| 11 | 12 | LSU Alexandria (La.) | 14-4 | 142 |
| 12 | 13 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 15-1 | 141 |
| 13 | RV | Faulkner (Ala.) | 14-3 | 133 |
| 14 | 4 | Pikeville (Ky.) | 15-3 | 132 |
| 15 | 14 | Xavier (La.) | 13-4 | 122 |
| 16 | RV | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 13-4 | 110 |
| 17 | 8 | Loyola (La.) | 13-4 | 102 |
| 18 | 15 | Hope International (Calif.) | 14-3 | 94 |
| 19 | 22 | Texas Wesleyan | 12-3 | 91 |
| 20 | 24 | Talladega (Ala.) | 14-3 | 88 |
| 21 | 18 | Central Baptist (Ark.) | 11-3 | 84 |
| 22 | RV | SAGU (Texas) | 12-2 | 69 |
| 23 | 21 | Arizona Christian | 13-4 | 65 |
| 24 | NR | William Carey (Miss.) | 13-5 | 59 |
| 25 | NR | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 14-5 | 55 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Wayland Baptist (Texas), Tougaloo (Miss.), Stillman (Ala.), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), Dillard (La.).
Others Receiving Votes: Tougaloo (Miss.) 52, Clarke (Iowa) 22, Stillman (Ala.) 19, Park (Mo.) 15, Dillard (La.) 13, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 11, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 7, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 4, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 3.
