KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two teams from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) were ranked in the Top 12 in the final NAIA Men's Soccer National Selection Committee (NSC) poll of the 2026 season, the national office announced Wednesday.
Ottawa University is now ranked No. 10, moving up two spots from their previous ranking. Oklahoma Wesleyan University is not far behind, in a tie for No. 12, moving up four spots from their ranking in the previous poll.
Members of NSC each completed an individual ballot to evaluate teams based on approved criteria used to select and seed the national championship field. The NSC is using the same data for these polls that will be used when the selection committee conducts their final meeting to determine the national championship field, which will be released on November 13.
Check out more of the data the NSC used to rank teams by clicking the links below.
TOP FIVE CAPSULES
1. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) remained at No. 1 in the final NSC Poll after shutting out Viterbo (Wis.), 5-0, to clinch its second consecutive CCAC regular-season title. The Tigers have outscored opponents 14-0 over their last three matches and will close the regular season Wednesday at St. Xavier (Ill.) at 7 p.m.
2. Life (Ga.)
Running Eagles men’s soccer moved up two spots to No. 2 in the NSC Poll after earning a 5-2 Senior Day victory over UT Southern (Tenn.) on Sunday afternoon. The Running Eagles will face the Firehawks again at home in the first round of the SSAC Tournament on Thursday, Oct. 29.
3. Mid-America Christian (Okla.)
Mid-America Christian (Okla.) moved up to No. 3 in the NSC Poll after defeating Texas Wesleyan, 3-2, to claim its fifth Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season title in six years. The Evangels will close out the regular season Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. Senior Night matchup against Wayland Baptist at Dill Soccer Field.
4. Faulkner (Ala.)
Faulkner (Ala.) moved up from No. 7 to No. 4 in the NSC Poll after earning a 2-0 road win over then-No. 3 Cumberland (Tenn.), marking the second time in eight days the Eagles defeated a top-three team on the road. Fresh off claiming the SSAC regular-season championship, Faulkner will face Thomas (Ga.) in the quarterfinals of the SSAC Men’s Soccer Championship on Oct. 29.
5. Indiana Wesleyan
The Wildcats remained at No. 5 in the NSC Poll after playing to a 2-2 draw against Marian (Ind.) on Saturday. The Wildcats will host No. 23 Bethel (Ind.) on Wednesday, Oct. 28, in a winner-take-all matchup for the Crossroads League regular-season title, with both teams tied atop the standings with 19 points.
FULL NAIA MEN'S SOCCER NATIONAL SELECTION COMMITTEE (NSC) TOP 25 POLL
| RANK |
LAST TIME |
INSTITUTION |
RECORD |
| 1 |
1 |
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) |
11-0-3 |
| 2 |
4 |
Life (Ga.) |
13-1-3 |
| 3 |
6 |
Mid-America Christian (Okla.) |
14-1-2 |
| 4 |
7 |
Faulkner (Ala.) |
15-2 |
| 5 |
5 |
Indiana Wesleyan |
12-2-3 |
| 6 |
3 |
Cumberland (Tenn.) |
10-1-4 |
| 7 |
10 |
William Penn (Iowa) |
10-0-6 |
| 8 |
8 |
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) |
11-0-3 |
| 9 |
9 |
Rio Grande (Ohio) |
11-1-1 |
| 10 |
12 |
Ottawa (Kan.) |
12-1-3 |
| 11 |
11 |
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) |
8-6-1 |
| T-12 |
2 |
MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) |
10-5-2 |
| T-12 |
16 |
Oklahoma Wesleyan |
13-1-3 |
| 14 |
21 |
Bellevue (Neb.) |
11-4-1 |
| 15 |
23 |
Bethel (Ind.) |
10-3-3 |
| 16 |
19 |
William Carey (Miss.) |
13-2-3 |
| 17 |
20 |
LSU Alexandria (La.) |
11-3-3 |
| 18 |
NR |
Texas A&M – San Antonio |
11-3-1 |
| 19 |
14 |
John Brown (Ark.) |
10-4-1 |
| 20 |
NR |
Marian (Ind.) |
12-3-2 |
| 21 |
17 |
Benedictine (Kan.) |
10-4-3 |
| 22 |
NR |
Concordia (Neb.) |
11-4 |
| 23 |
NR |
Keiser (Fla.) |
10-2-2 |
| T-24 |
25 |
Grand View (Iowa) |
9-5-2 |
| T-24 |
13 |
Indiana Tech |
12-4-2 |
NOTE A team’s ranking in the NAIA National Selection Committee (NSC) Poll does not guarantee a corresponding seed in the national championship.
Southern Oregon, St. Thomas (Fla.), Stanton (Calif.) and Columbia (Mo.) have dropped from the Top 25.
About the NAIA
The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., is a governing body of small college athletics programs dedicated to character-driven, education-based athletics. Since 1937, the NAIA has balanced high-level competition with holistic student-athlete development through its commitment to The Right Way to Play®. Each year more than 87,000 NAIA student-athletes compete in college athletics, earn over $1.3 billion in financial aid, and pursue opportunities to participate in 30 national championships. naia.org | @NAIA | #TheRightWayToPlay
—KCAC—