Milligan Men's Soccer to Begin Season Ranked No. 2 in NAIA
MILLIGAN, Tenn. – On Wednesday morning, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) released the 2024 NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll. The poll listed the Milligan men's soccer team as the No. 2-ranked program in the nation after their stellar runner-up finish to close out 2023. It is the Buffaloes' highest ever national ranking to begin a season in program history.
The Buffs earned a total of 461 points in the poll, trailing only last season's national champion, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (480). The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter votes for the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place, 28 points for third-place and so on through the list. A panel of head coaches representing each conference and Continental Athletic Conference (Independents) voted on the poll.
The full poll is listed below:
| RANK | INSTITUTION[FIRST-PLACE VOTES] | 2023 RECORD | POINTS |
| 1 | MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) [18] | 17-4-4 | 480 |
| 2 | Milligan (Tenn.) | 19-3-4 | 461 |
| 3 | St. Thomas (Fla.) | 18-2-3 | 443 |
| 4 | Oklahoma Wesleyan | 17-2-5 | 437 |
| 5 | Dalton State (Ga.) | 14-2-4 | 410 |
| 6 | Bethel (Ind.) | 18-3-3 | 393 |
| 7 | Grace (Ind.) | 15-5-2 | 343 |
| 8 | Bellevue (Neb.) | 14-6-4 | 341 |
| 9 | Indiana Tech | 14-4-6 | 333 |
| 10 | Mobile (Ala.) | 15-2-3 | 321 |
| 11 | Keiser (Fla.) | 12-4-6 | 312 |
| 12 | Missouri Valley | 14-6-0 | 287 |
| 13 | Mid-America Christian (Okla.) | 17-0-4 | 281 |
| 14 | Columbia (Mo.) | 13-4-5 | 279 |
| 15 | Westcliff (Calif.) | 18-2-0 | 271 |
| 16 | William Penn (Iowa) | 12-5-4 | 269 |
| 17 | Indiana Wesleyan | 13-4-4 | 235 |
| 18 | Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | 12-4-3 | 214 |
| 19 | Rio Grande (Ohio) | 14-2-3 | 200 |
| 20 | William Carey (Miss.) | 16-5-1 | 178 |
| 21 | Florida National | 11-2-6 | 113 |
| 22 | Bethel (Tenn.) | 13-5-1 | 105 |
| 23 | Union Commonwealth (Ky.) | 15-3-2 | 104 |
| 24 | Cumberlands (Ky.) | 7-4-5 | 101 |
| 25 | Southern Oregon | 18-4-0 | 77 |
Receiving Votes: Tennessee Wesleyan 66; Cumberland (Tenn.) 54; LSU Shreveport 44 (La.); UC Merced (Calif.) 42; Louisiana Christian 39; Concordia (Neb.) 38; Briar Cliff (Iowa) 30; Ottawa (Kan.) 12; Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 9; Aquinas (Mich.) 6; WVU Tech (W.Va.) 6; Williams Baptist (Ark.) 6; Hope International (Calif.) 4; Warner Pacific (Ore.) 2