NEW ORLEANS — Eight victories in the first 11 games, including a 4-0 record against NCAA Division II opponents, helped Xavier University of Louisiana climb into a tie for 17th Tuesday in the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll.
The Gold Rush, 19th in the preseason, share the position with Martin Methodist. Xavier is in the top 25 for the 52nd consecutive time — the longest active streak in the division — and the 65th time in the last 66 polls.
Xavier defeated NCAA D2 opponents Spring Hill, Miles, LeMoyne-Owen and Clark Atlanta by an average of 11 1/2 points. All the victories were at home, where the Gold Rush are 8-0 this season.
Xavier is one of two Gulf Coast Athletic Conference teams in the top 25. The other is Talladega, which dropped from third to 11th. For the first time since Dec. 10, 2013, four GCAC teams received votes. Dillard and Tougaloo were among the "others receiving votes."
Unbeaten Pikeville received 9-of-10 first-place votes and replaced defending champion Dalton State at No. 1. There are nine top-25 teams which weren't ranked in the preseason, including No. 6 William Penn, which competed in NAIA Division II last season.
The rankings are the first of the regular season. The next rankings will be announced Jan. 5.
The XU men are taking fall-semester final exams this week. They'll resume their schedule at 7 p.m. Saturday against William Carey in Hattiesburg, Miss. The next home game will start at 5 p.m. Dec. 29 against LSU-Shreveport in the Gold Rush Holiday Classic at the Convocation Center.
| NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through Dec. 6)
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