The Gold Nuggets (6-4), winner of four straight and five of their last six games, are in the top 25 for the 11th consecutive time and the 56th time in the last 59 polls.
Xavier opened the season with four consecutive games against preseason top-25 opponents. The Gold Nuggets won one of those, against then-No. 22 Mobile, then earned another victory at Mobile nearly three weeks later.
Xavier lost 68-66 at Bethel (Tenn.), which remained ninth, and 77-76 at a neutral site against Our Lady of the Lake, which dropped from 11th to 12th.
Xavier is one of eight schools with both basketball teams in the NAIA Division I top 25. The Gold Rush are 22nd. The other schools with both teams ranked are Campbellsville, Concordia (Calif.), Freed-Hardeman, Georgetown (Ky.), Lewis-Clark State, Oklahoma Baptist and Our Lady of the Lake.
Freed-Hardeman received 8-of-9 first-place votes to replace defending champion Oklahoma City at No. 1. Oklahoma City is second.
Next for Xavier will be a 5 p.m. Monday game at the Convocation Center against Faulkner, one of 13 teams in the "others receiving votes" category. Visiting Xavier at 7 p.m. Jan. 7 will be unbeaten city rival Loyola, which climbed from 11th to eighth.
The next poll will be announced Jan. 6.
The top 25:
1. Freed-Hardeman
2. Oklahoma City
3. Vanguard
4. Westminster (Utah)
5. Campbellsville
6. Wiley
7. Oklahoma Baptist
8. Loyola
9. Bethel (Tenn.)
10. Langston
11. Westmont
12. Our Lady of the Lake
13. Lewis-Clark State
14. Concordia (Calif.)
15. MidAmerica Nazarene
16. Cumberland
17. Montana State Northern
18. Shawnee State
19. Xavier
20. The Master's
21. Baker
22. Cumberlands
23. Lyon
24. Lindsey Wilson
25. Georgetown (Ky.)
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information
Director
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