2017-18 NAIA DII WBB preseason poll
SEWEARD, Neb. – The Concordia University women’s basketball program will begin the 2017-18 season with the same national ranking it was left with when the dust settled on the 2016-17 campaign this past March. A 2017 national semifinalist and defending GPAC champion, the Bulldogs checked in at No. 3 in the 2017-18 NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Preseason Top 25 Poll released on Tuesday (Oct. 24). Very few things changed from the 2016-17 postseason poll.
The Bulldogs have been ranked in every national poll since the start of the 2011-12 season (75-consecutive poll releases). Three-straight senior classes have played each game in their careers for ranked Concordia squads. During that time, the Bulldogs have risen as high as No. 1, appearing at the top spot for the first four polls of the 2012-13 campaign. Head coach Drew Olson has led the program to national semifinal appearances in three of the past six seasons. Concordia is the only program in the nation with three semifinal trips since 2012.
Olson’s teams have finished inside the top 25 in eight of his first 11 seasons. The highest final national ranking was a No. 2 placement in 2015 after a national runner-up claim. Both the 2011-12 and 2016-17 squads were ranked third at the close of their seasons. The Bulldogs have finished inside the top 10 in four of the past six years.
The women’s basketball program has held the No. 1 ranking a total of 11 times, including the final seven polls of the 2002-03 season. The 2014-15 Bulldogs became the first in program history to reach the national title game and was the fourth Concordia women’s basketball team to advance to the national semifinals. The fifth semifinal appearance came this March.
Olson’s group will open up the 2017-18 season at next week’s annual Cattle Classic (Nov. 3-4). On the first day of the event, the Bulldogs will host Viterbo University (Wis.) with tipoff set for 6 p.m. CT.
Preseason rankings under Olson
2017-18: 3
2016-17: 14
2015-16: 4
2014-15: 9
2013-14: 5
2012-13: 1
2011-12: 22
2010-11: 11
2009-10: 22
2008-09: 7
2007-08: NR
2006-07: NR
Final end of season rankings under Olson
2016-17: 3
2015-16: 19
2014-15: 2
2013-14: 13
2012-13: 9
2011-12: 3
2010-11: NR
2009-10: NR
2008-09: 8
2007-08: 10
2006-07: NR