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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.