KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Three teams from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference were recognized in the Gared NAIA Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll, the national office announced Wednesday.

Bethel College, Evangel University, and Friends University were all a part of the "Receiving Votes" category of the preseason poll. These three teams finished the top of the KCAC Women's Basketball regular-season standings at the end of last year, with Evangel taking home the regular-season title, followed by Bethel and Friends in a tie for second. Evangel also won the conference's tournament championship title in the 2025-26 season. 

The next edition of the Gared NAIA Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll is scheduled to be released Wednesday, November 11.
 

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2026 NAIA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PRESEASON COACHES' POLL
 

RANK	INSTITUITION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES]	2025-26 RECORD
1	Marian (Ind.) [4]	35-2
2	Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) [5]	29-7
3	Dakota State (S.D.)	30-6
4	Bethel (Tenn.) [7]	28-6
5	Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)	29-4
6	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	23-9
7	Dordt (Iowa) [1]	34-3
8	Campbellsville (Ky.)	25-8
9	Saint Francis (Ind.) [2]	30-5
10	Concordia (Neb.)	23-8
11	Georgetown (Ky.)	25-9
12	Rocky Mountain (Mont.)	21-10
13	Rio Grande (Ohio)	31-2
14	Indiana Wesleyan	19-14
15	Benedictine (Kan.)	24-8
16	Montana Tech	26-5
17	MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)	28-4
18	Hastings (Neb.)	24-9
19	Loyola (La.)	25-5
20	College of the Ozarks (Mo.)	25-11
21	Southeastern (Fla.)	28-4
22	College of Idaho	22-9
23	Oregon Tech	19-12
24	Carroll (Mont.)	19-11
25	Spring Arbor (Mich.)	24-8

 

Receiving Votes: Bethel (Ind.), Bethel (Kan.), Columbia (Mo.), Corban (Ore.), Cumberland (Tenn.), Cumberlands (Ky.), Eastern Oregon, Evangel (Mo.), Faulkner (Ala.), Friends (Kan.), Huntington (Ind.), Indiana Tech, IU South Bend (Ind.), Langston (Okla.), Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), LSU Shreveport (La.), Mid-America Christian (Okla.), Olivet Nazarene (Ill.), St. Francis (Ill.), William Carey (Miss.), Williams Baptist (Ark.).

 

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