KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Frontier Conference has two teams ranked in the top 10 of the latest NAIA basketball polls, which were released Wednesday.
The Carroll College women are the highest-ranked team, men's or women's, from the Frontier. The 15-2 Fighting Saints are sixth in the NAIA women's basketball coaches' top 25 poll, up one spot from their previous No. 7 ranking. Carroll (15-2 overall, 9-1 Frontier) has won its past four games, including a dominant doubleheader sweep of Montana Tech (4-8, 4-8) last week. The Saints' scheduled games at Rocky Mountain College (1-5, 1-5) this weekend have been canceled due to COVID-19.
No other Frontier women's teams are ranked in the top 25, though Providence (4-3, 4-3) and Montana Western (8-4, 6-4) both received votes. Providence, which split with Western last weekend, has had its games scheduled with MSU-Northern (4-9, 3-6) for this weekend canceled. Western is slated to play at Montana Tech on Saturday and Sunday.
Campbellsville (Ky.), Wayland Baptist (Texas), Westmont (Calif.), Thomas Moore (Ky.) and Marian (Ind.) make up the top five of the women's rankings. The complete women's rankings are below.
On the men's side, Providence (6-0 overall, 6-0 Frontier) climbed three spots to No. 10. At 6-0, UP is one of four undefeated teams in the top 25. The Argos didn't start their season until January due to COVID-19 protocols, and they now haven't played since Jan. 17 after their past three scheduled games -- one against Montana State-Northern (5-4, 4-4) and two against Montana Western (3-6, 2-6) -- were canceled. The Argos are on track to get back in action this weekend with home games against MSU-Northern on Saturday and Sunday.
No other Frontier team cracked the top 25, but Carroll College (9-5, 6-4) did receive votes this week. The Fighting Saints, winners of four straight, are scheduled to play at Rocky Mountain College (1-7, 1-7) on Saturday and Sunday.
Montana Tech (7-7, 7-5) defeated Western 86-81 on Wednesday in the first of three consecutive games between the rivals. They'll also play on Saturday and Sunday.
Indiana Wesleyan, LSU Shreveport (La.), William Penn (Iowa), Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and Arizona Christian are the top five teams in the men's poll, the entirety of which is below.
2020-21 NAIA Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll No. 3 (January 27, 2021)
| RANK | LAST TIME | SCHOOL [FIRST PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Campbellsville (Ky.) [14] | 9-0 | 584 |
| 2 | 3 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) [3] | 6-0 | 557 |
| 3 | 2 | Westmont (Calif.) [3] | 1-1 | 554 |
| 4 | 4 | Thomas More (Ky.) [1] | 17-1 | 539 |
| 5 | 6 | Marian (Ind.) | 17-4 | 492 |
| 6 | 7 | Carroll (Mont.) | 15-2 | 471 |
| 7 | 5 | Oklahoma City | 1-0 | 469 |
| 8 | 8 | Clarke (Iowa) | 13-1 | 460 |
| 9 | 11 | Morningside (Iowa) | 17-2 | 435 |
| 10 | 10 | Vanguard (Calif.) | 1-0 | 399 |
| 11 | 12 | Indiana Tech | 14-1 | 398 |
| 12 | 9 | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 14-3 | 390 |
| 13 | 13 | St. Francis (Ill.) | 14-2 | 367 |
| 14 | 15 | Sterling (Kan.) | 18-0 | 352 |
| 15 | 16 | Southeastern (Fla.) | 14-2 | 347 |
| 16 | 17 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 12-3 | 314 |
| 17 | 18 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) | 11-3 | 259 |
| 18 | 22 | Lyon (Ark.) | 7-0 | 231 |
| 19 | 23 | Indiana Wesleyan | 14-4 | 227 |
| 20 | 20 | Saint Xavier (Ill.) | 7-1 | 214 |
| 21 | 24 | Dakota State (S.D.) | 14-3 | 211 |
| 22 | 19 | College of the Ozarks (Mo.) | 0-0 | 202 |
| 23 | NR | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 6-3 | 141 |
| 24 | 25 | Loyola (La.) | 7-1 | 123 |
| 25 | NR | Concordia (Neb.) | 13-7 | 119 |
Dropped from the poll: Talladega (Ala.), The Master's (Calif.).
Receiving Votes: Rust (Miss.) 115, Cumberlands (Ky.) 87, Providence (Mont.) 67, LSU Shreveport (La.) 48, Benedictine (Kan.) 40, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 34, Montana Western 34, Talladega (Ala.) 32, Taylor (Ind.) 20, Bryan (Tenn.) 17, Columbia (Mo.) 16, Northwestern (Iowa) 13, Grand View (Iowa) 11, Pikeville (Ky.) 5, Concordia (Mich.) 3, The Master's (Calif.) 3.
2020-21 NAIA Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll No. 3 (January 27, 2021)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Indiana Wesleyan [14] | 21-1 | 585 |
| 2 | 2 | LSU Shreveport (La.) [7] | 11-0 | 577 |
| 3 | 3 | William Penn (Iowa) | 15-1 | 554 |
| 4 | 4 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 12-1 | 524 |
| 5 | 6 | Arizona Christian | 16-2 | 502 |
| 6 | 7 | Shawnee State (Ohio) | 16-2 | 498 |
| 7 | 10 | Faulkner (Ala.) | 15-1 | 486 |
| 8 | 12 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | 9-1 | 448 |
| 9 | 15 | Morningside (Iowa) | 17-2 | 416 |
| 10 | 13 | Providence (Mont.) | 6-0 | 411 |
| 11 | 19 | Bethel (Ind.) | 18-3 | 389 |
| 12 | 5 | Loyola (La.) | 9-2 | 380 |
| 13 | 9 | The Master's (Calif.) | 9-1 | 376 |
| 14 | 18 | Talladega (Ala.) | 15-2 | 276 |
| 15 | RV | SAGU (Texas) | 4-1 | 263 |
| 16 | 11 | Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) | 14-4 | 256 |
| 17 | 17 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 10-3 | 254 |
| 18 | 8 | Marian (Ind.) | 9-4 | 244 |
| 19 | 21 | Texas A&M Texarkana | 7-0 | 243 |
| 20 | NR | Thomas More (Ky.) | 10-4 | 232 |
| 21 | 20 | LSU Alexandria (La.) | 10-2 | 207 |
| 22 | 25 | Bethel (Kan.) | 12-4 | 173 |
| 23 | RV | Stillman (Ala.) | 7-1 | 164 |
| 24 | RV | Dillard (La.) | 3-0 | 141 |
| 25 | RV | Point (Ga.) | 16-3 | 99 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Saint Francis (Ind.), College of Idaho, John Brown (Ark.), Martin Methodist (Tenn.), Mid-America Christian (Okla.).
Others Receiving Votes: Xavier (La.) 94, Oklahoma Wesleyan 69, Holy Cross (Ind.) 66, Cumberlands (Ky.) 65, Texas Wesleyan 58, Jamestown (N.D.) 53, Warner (Fla.) 53, Benedictine (Kan.) 49, Columbia (Mo.) 43, Grace (Ind.) 20, Saint Francis (Ind.) 15, Park (Mo.) 14, Indiana Tech 9, Carroll (Mont.) 8, CIU (S.C.) 5, William Carey (Miss.) 5, Valley City State (N.D.) 4, College of Idaho 3.
