Defending National Champion Seahawks Earn Preseason No. 1 in NAIA Men's Tennis Top 25
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Keiser (Fla.) will defend the 2025 Red Banner from the top spot in 2026, as the Seahawks checked in at No. 1 in the 2025-26 NAIA Men's Tennis Preseason Coaches' Poll. Keiser collected nine first-place votes to three for No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett, the second-to-last team standing in last year's championship.
No. 3 Tennessee Wesleyan was one of two semifinalists from last year's championship in the top five, joined by No. 4 Southeastern (Fla.), with five points separating the two. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) rounds out the top five at No. 5 after a second-round exit in the 2025 championship.
This week's poll is the only fall poll of the 2025-26 season, with the first regular-season edition of the poll slated for Wednesday, February 11.
| RANK | INSTITUTION [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | RECORD | VOTES | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
Keiser (Fla.) [9] | 14-2 | 297 |
| 2 | 
|
Georgia Gwinnett [3] | 18-3 | 292 |
| 3 | 
|
Tennessee Wesleyan | 16-3 | 276 |
| 4 | 
|
Southeastern (Fla.) | 18-3 | 271 |
| 5 | 
|
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 14-4 | 247 |
| 6 | 
|
William Carey (Miss.) | 15-4 | 237 |
| 7 | 
|
Holy Cross (Ind.) | 13-3 | 220 |
| 8 | 
|
Cumberlands (Ky.) | 20-9 | 217 |
| 9 | 
|
Xavier (La.) | 15-10 | 199 |
| 10 | 
|
SCAD Savannah (Ga.) | 13-7 | 197 |
| 11 | 
|
Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) | 20-2 | 195 |
| 12 | 
|
Dillard (La.) | 13-14 | 157 |
| 13 | 
|
Morningside (Iowa) | 24-2 | 153 |
| 14 | 
|
Grace (Ind.) | 19-4 | 143 |
| 15 | 
|
Oakland City (Ind.) | 17-5 | 127 |
| 16 | 
|
William Woods (Mo.) | 20-11 | 122 |
| 17 | 
|
Huntington (Ind.) | 12-5 | 115 |
| 18 | 
|
Missouri Baptist (Mo.) | 15-8 | 108 |
| 19 | 
|
Cumberland (Tenn.) | 15-9 | 102 |
| 20 | 
|
Tennessee Southern | 12-7 | 78 |
| 20 |
|
SCAD Atlanta (Ga.) | 9-12 | 78 |
| 22 | 
|
Marian (Ind.) | 10-12 | 71 |
| 23 | 
|
Loyola (La.) | 8-10 | 60 |
| 24 | 
|
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | 10-13 | 53 |
| 25 | 
|
St. Thomas (Fla.) | 3-9 | 51 |
Receiving Votes: Arizona Christian 50, Coastal Georgia (Ga.) 31, Texas A&M -Texarkana 29, New College of Florida 29, McPherson (Kan.) 29, Ottawa (Kan.) 27, Goshen (Ind.) 20, Ave Maria (Fla.) 18, Milligan (Tenn.) 17, Bethel (Tenn.) 13, Bethel (Ind.) 11, Bethel (Kan.) 10, Judson (Ill.) 5.
Poll Methodology
- The national poll is for publicity purposes only and does not influence the selection process for national championship consideration.
- A panel of head coaches representing each conference and the Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) votes in the poll.
- The Top 25 teams are selected using a points-based system:
- 30 points for a 1st-place vote, 29 for 2nd, 28 for 3rd, and so on.
- The highest and lowest rankings received by each team are discarded before final tallying.
- Teams receiving only one point are not listed as "receiving votes."
- For the Preseason Poll, there is no "previous ranking" column since it is the initial poll and differs from the prior rating system.
