CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. — Talk about putting Northern Kentucky sports on the map, how about what Thomas More basketball is doing right now?
On Wednesday, we learned that the defending national champion Saints are No. 1 in the nation in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Poll. It’s the fifth time the Saints have been voted No. 1 since joining the NAIA in the 2019-20 school year.
And it wasn’t even close. Jeff Hans’s Saints received 19 of 21 first-place votes after their 32-4 championship finish last season.
Not that this is unfamiliar territory for the Thomas More women: The Saints have been a top three team 10 times and a top 10 team 13 times since joining the NAIA.
What is brand new is that the men’s basketball team is ranked No. 2. That’s the first-time in school history that the Saints women have been No. 1 and Justin Ray’s men’s team that made it to the NAIA Final Four a year ago as a semifinalist, is now a year-after-year contender as well.
Think about that for a moment: In the sport that matters most for the NAIA, the Saints are ranked Nos. 1 and 2. And while that kind of ranking has been a given for the women this last decade in both the NCAA’s Div. 3 and NAIA where they’ve won national championships, this is a new deal for the men.
The only team ahead of the TMU men is Arizona Christian, with 15 first-place votes to TMU’s three. Like TMU, Arizona Christian was a semifinalist in last year’s NAIA tournament in Kansas City.
The Thomas More women open the 2022-23 season Monday night against No. 11 Indiana Wesleyan at home at 7 p.m. Tough opener for TMU after a 74-71 win the last time these teams met in Marion, Ind., in 2020.
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TMU then travels to Montana to take on the No. 5 Carroll College Fighting Saints on Nov. 4, and then the University of Providence Argos the next night. TMU lost to Carroll 68-48 the last time they played in 2019 while beating Providence 82-73, also in 2019.
The TMU men open in a tougher way than the women — on the road at No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan Nov. 5 before coming home for three games against Miami-Hamilton Nov. 8, Kent State-Tuscawaras Nov. 12, and Cumberlands (Ky.) Nov. 17.
The full rankings are below:
NAIA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACHES POLL
1 Thomas More (Ky.) [19] 32-4
2 Westmont (Calif.) [2] 27-5
3 Morningside (Iowa) 30-6
4 Campbellsville (Ky.) 31-6
4 Carroll (Mont.) 27-8
6 Southeastern (Fla.) 33-2
7 Marian (Ind.) 30-5
8 Clarke (Iowa) 31-5
9 Central Methodist (Mo.) 31-6
10 Wayland Baptist (Texas) 33-4
11 Indiana Wesleyan 30-5
12 Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 27-8
13 Sterling (Kan.) 32-3
14 Bryan (Tenn.) 32-2
15 Dordt (Iowa) 29-9
15 Georgetown (Ky.) 22-12
17 Loyola (La.) 23-6
18 The Master’s (Calif.) 31-3
19 Vanguard (Calif.) 13-12
20 Rio Grande (Ohio) 32-3
21 Rust (Miss.) 26-4
22 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 25-5
23 Montana Western 15-14
24 Indiana Tech 30-3
25 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 29-5
Receiving Votes: Dakota State (S.D.) 123, St. Francis (Ill.) 107, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 82, Cumberlands (Ky.) 54, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 32, Northwestern (Iowa) 30, Midway (Ky.) 28, Bethel (Tenn.) 26, Xavier (La.) 23, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 23, Columbia (Mo.) 21, Eastern Oregon 14, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 10, Tabor (Kan.) 10, IU South Bend (Ind.) 9, Faulkner (Ala.) 8, Benedictine (Kan.) 4, Pikeville (Ky.) 4, LSU Shreveport (La.) 4
NAIA MEN’S BASKETBALL COACHES POLL
1 Arizona Christian [15] 31-5
2 Thomas More (Ky.) [3] 31-5
3 College of Idaho 32-5
4 Oklahoma Wesleyan [1] 34-3
5 Indiana Wesleyan 28-7
6 William Jessup (Calif.) 30-7
7 William Penn (Iowa) [1] 31-2
8 Grace (Ind.) 27-9
9 Jamestown (N.D.) 25-11
10 Georgetown (Ky.) 25-8
11 Faulkner (Ala.) 26-7
12 LSU Shreveport (La.) 25-8
13 Science & Arts (Okla.) 25-8
14 Marian (Ind.) 26-6
15 Southwestern (Kan.) 25-8
16Carroll (Mont.) 29-5
17 Southeastern (Fla.) 22-8
18 Wayland Baptist (Texas) 19-13
19 Indiana South Bend (Ind.) 25-7
20 Cumberland (Tenn.) 22-9
21 Florida College 31-4
22 Oregon Tech 22-11
23 Montana Tech 27-7
24 Briar Cliff (Iowa) 19-12
25 Indiana Tech 26-8
Others Receiving Votes: Union (Ky.) 117, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 112, Evangel (Mo.) 80, Kansas Wesleyan 70, Huntington (Ind.) 60, Hope International (Calif.) 57, WVU Tech (W.Va.) 57, Xavier (La.) 56, Ottawa (Ariz.) 35, Missouri Baptist 26, Northwestern (Iowa) 23, Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 22, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 22, Madonna (Mich.) 18, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 16, Langston (Okla.) 16, Stillman (Ala.) 15, Bellevue (Neb.) 14, Cumberlands (Ky.) 14, IU Kokomo (Ind.) 9, Concordia (Neb.) 6, Reinhardt (Ga.) 5.
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