Carroll women crack top five in NAIA Top 25; Montana Tech men still No. 6

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Frontier Conference is well-represented in the latest NAIA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Coaches Top 25 Ratings, which were released Wednesday.

Carroll, Rocky Mountain and Providence each climbed the women’s rankings, with the Fighting Saints cracking the top five. Carroll moved up from No. 6 to No. 5 in this week’s poll. The Saints are 1-1, losing a 62-60 contest to then-No. 4 Indiana Wesleyan and defeating Whiteworth 64-54.

Carroll will play its next two games in Arizona: Saturday at Arizona Christian and Monday at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Rocky went from No. 15 to No. 14 in the poll. The Battlin’ Bears are 3-0 and will next play at the Northwest Classic in Kirkland, Wash., against Northwest on Friday and Corban on Saturday.

Providence jumped from No. 23 to No. 18, thanks to its 3-0 start to the season, which includes an impressive 69-62 win over Indiana Wesleyan. The Argos are at Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) on Friday and Cumberland (Tenn.) on Saturday.

With the split in Montana, Indiana Wesleyan climbed one spot from fourth to third in the rankings. Campbellsville (Ky.) is the unanimous top-ranked team, Dordt (Iowa) is second and Clarke (Iowa) is fourth. Montana Western received votes but finished outside the top 25. View the complete women’s poll.

The Montana Tech men, meanwhile, held steady at No. 6 in the NAIA top 25. In fact, the top seven went unchanged from the previous poll, with College of Idaho maintaining its unanimous No. 1 ranking. Grace (Ind.), Arizona Christian, Langston (Okla.) and Georgetown (Ky.) complete the top five.

The Orediggers are the only Frontier Conference team in the men’s rankings. They’re 3-0 to start the season with wins over Portland Bible College, Dickinson State and Eastern Oregon. Tech is back in action Friday against Northern New Mexico College and Saturday against Southern Oregon at the Montana Tech Tip Off Classic.

Rocky Mountain received votes in the poll but finished outside the top 25. View the complete men’s poll.