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.
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
RANK / LAST SEASON RANK / SCHOOL / [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] / LAST SEASON’S RECORD / POINTS
1 3 Thomas More (Ky.) [19] 32-4 590
2 2 Westmont (Calif.) [2] 27-5 570
3 6 Morningside (Iowa) 30-6 515
4 5 Campbellsville (Ky.) 31-6 505
4 11 Carroll (Mont.) 27-8 505
6 1 Southeastern (Fla.) 33-2 492
7 4 Marian (Ind.) 30-5 480
8 14 Clarke (Iowa) 31-5 478
9 15 Central Methodist (Mo.) 31-6 470
10 8 Wayland Baptist (Texas) 33-4 418
11 12 Indiana Wesleyan 30-5 409
12 RV Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) 27-8 357
13 12 Sterling (Kan.) 32-3 331
14 9 Bryan (Tenn.) 32-2 324
15 21 Dordt (Iowa) 29-9 267
15 RV Georgetown (Ky.) 22-12 267
17 25 Loyola (La.) 23-6 266
18 7 The Master’s (Calif.) 31-3 251
19 NR Vanguard (Calif.) 13-12 228
20 20 Rio Grande (Ohio) 32-3 200
21 RV Rust (Miss.) 26-4 197
22 19 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 25-5 182
23 NR Montana Western 15-14 174
24 17 Indiana Tech 30-3 146
25 10 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 29-5 142
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
RANK / LAST SEASON RANK/ SCHOOL / [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] / LAST SEASON’S RECORD / POINTS
1 4 Arizona Christian [15] 31-5 553
2 5 Thomas More (Ky.) [3] 31-5 521
3 9 College of Idaho 32-5 513
4 3 Oklahoma Wesleyan [1] 34-3 501
5 7 Indiana Wesleyan 28-7 489
6 13 William Jessup (Calif.) 30-7 485
7 1 William Penn (Iowa) [1] 31-2 457
8 RV Grace (Ind.) 27-9 429
9 NR Jamestown (N.D.) 25-11 403
10 RV Georgetown (Ky.) 25-8 367
11 15 Faulkner (Ala.) 26-7 356
12 21 LSU Shreveport (La.) 25-8 312
13 10 Science & Arts (Okla.) 25-8 262
14 12 Marian (Ind.) 26-6 252
15 RV Southwestern (Kan.) 25-8 242
16 8 Carroll (Mont.) 29-5 237
17 18 Southeastern (Fla.) 22-8 236
18 NR Wayland Baptist (Texas) 19-13 224
19 19 Indiana South Bend (Ind.) 25-7 197
20 RV Cumberland (Tenn.) 22-9 193
21 RV Florida College 31-4 171
22 RV Oregon Tech 22-11 167
23 14 Montana Tech 27-7 124
24 RV Briar Cliff (Iowa) 19-12 123
25 25 Indiana Tech 26-8 121
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.