KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Providence men's basketball team continues to make program history.
After previously cracking the top 10 of the NAIA Division I men's basketball coaches' poll for the first time in program history, the Argos climbed one spot to No. 7 in the latest rankings, which were released Wednesday.
Providence is out to an 8-0 start in coach Steve Keller's second season on the bench. The Argos started Frontier Conference play with wins over Rocky Mountain College and Montana Western last week, and they'll now hit the road for three games at the Cactus Classic in Chandler, Ariz. Providence closes the year with five non-conference games before returning to its league schedule in early 2020.
The Argos are joined by fellow Frontier Conference teams Lewis-Clark State and Carroll College in the rankings. Lewis-Clark State (10-1) is up one place to 13th, and Carroll (6-2) is 23rd. The Fighting Saints weren't ranked in the first poll of the season, but they've won three consecutive games, including a 78-69 win over Lewis-Clark State last week. Carroll, which was the NAIA national runner-up in coach Kurt Paulson's first season last year, will also head to Chandler, Ariz. for three games at the Cactus Classic this weekend.
Montana State-Northern, which was ranked 17th, fell out of the top 25 after suffering its first loss of the season. The Lights (7-1) received the 26th-most votes.
The top three of the rankings remained unchanged from the last poll: Reigning national champion Georgetown (Ky.) received all nine first-place votes, The Master's (Calif.) is second and Mid-America Christian (Okla.) is third. Pikeville (Ky.) and William Penn (Iowa) each moved up one spot to fourth and fifth, respectively. The complete poll is below.
2019-20 NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll – Poll 2 (December 11, 2019)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 1 | Georgetown (Ky.) [9] | 10-0 | 219 |
| 2 | 2 | The Master's (Calif.) | 9-0 | 210 |
| 3 | 3 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | 10-0 | 206 |
| 4 | 5 | Pikeville (Ky.) | 12-0 | 194 |
| 5 | 6 | William Penn (Iowa) | 12-1 | 188 |
| 6 | 7 | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 9-1 | 185 |
| 7 | 8 | Providence (Mont.) (Mont.) | 8-0 | 176 |
| 8 | 3 | Loyola (La.) | 10-1 | 174 |
| 9 | 9 | Wayland Baptist (Texas) | 7-1 | 160 |
| 10 | 12 | John Brown (Ark.) | 10-0 | 155 |
| 11 | 22 | Westmont (Calif.) | 10-0 | 153 |
| 12 | 11 | LSU Alexandria (La.) | 9-3 | 141 |
| 13 | 14 | Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 10-1 | 134 |
| 14 | 16 | Xavier (La.) | 10-3 | 130 |
| 15 | 15 | Hope International (Calif.) | 9-1 | 116 |
| 16 | 25 | Tougaloo (Miss.) | 10-1 | 109 |
| 17 | 19 | Stillman (Ala.) | 7-2 | 100 |
| 18 | NR | Central Baptist (Ark.) | 8-2 | 90 |
| 19 | 21 | Dalton State (Ga.) | 8-1 | 86 |
| 19 | NR | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 10-3 | 86 |
| 21 | 10 | Arizona Christian | 6-3 | 69 |
| 22 | NR | Texas Wesleyan | 8-2 | 61 |
| 23 | NR | Carroll (Mont.) | 6-2 | 54 |
| 24 | 13 | Talladega (Ala.) | 11-2 | 52 |
| 25 | 24 | Dillard (La.) | 9-5 | 51 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Montana State-Northern, Life (Ga.), Thomas More (Ky.), Park (Mo.)
Others Receiving Votes: Montana State-Northern 50, Life (Ga.) 40, Faulkner (Ala.) 25, Cumberlands (Ky.) 21, Bethel (Tenn.) 20, Thomas More (Ky.) 14, SAGU (Texas) 13, Harris-Stowe State (Mo.) 11, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 6.
