D3HOOPS.COM – The defending NCAA III National Champions Howard Payne Lady Jackets were pre-season picked #13 by the D3hoops.com Top 25 pre-season poll.
The Lady Jackets finished 33-0 last season and had the NCAA III Player of the Year, Meia Daniels, and NCAA III National Coach of the Year, Chris Kielsmeier.
Howard Payne is already the pre-season pick to win the American Southwest Conference title this season and currently holds the longest active winning streak in collegiate basketball.
The Lady Jackets will open up the 2008-2009 season in Colorado Springs, CO at Colorado College on November 21, 2008. Howard Payne will also have an exhibition game at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls on November 11, 2008. The first home game will be on November 29, 2008 versus LeTourneau University.
The D3hoops.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly.
# Team W-L Pts. '08 final
1 UW-Whitewater (14) 29-4 604 4
2 Oglethorpe (3) 27-7 566 6
3 DePauw (2) 28-4 517 5
4 Kean 28-4 491 7
5 Rochester (2) 22-6 425 20
6 Washington U. (2) 19-8 421 —
7 Thomas More 29-1 420 8
8 Hope 30-1 397 2
9 DeSales 26-4 383 18
10 Illinois Wesleyan 26-3 328 14
11 Chicago 22-6 325 19
12 Baldwin-Wallace 27-3 323 15
13 Howard Payne (2) 33-0 295 1
14 Messiah 30-3 280 3
15 Bowdoin 19-9 270 —
16 Tufts 26-4 255 12
17 St. Norbert 22-5 221 25
18 New Jersey 22-7 196 —
19 Simpson 27-3 166 10
20 McMurry 25-5 151 11
21 Amherst 27-3 119 13
22 Marymount 23-6 117 —
23 St. Benedict 20-6 112 —
24 Muhlenberg 21-7 86 —
25 UW-Eau Claire 23-7 76 24
Others receiving votes: Mary Washington 70, Carthage 54, Chapman 51, Southern Maine 46, Brandeis 44, William Smith 43, Western Connecticut 42, UW-Stevens Point 36, Whitman 22, Eastern Connecticut 20, St. Lawrence 20, Emmanuel 14, Randolph-Macon 12, Hardin-Simmons 11, Lewis and Clark 10, Capital 9, Cortland State 9, George Fox 9, Loras 8, Trinity (Texas) 8, Elmhurst 7, Lebanon Valley 7, Millikin 7, Salem State 7, Scranton 5, Wilmington 3, Emory 2, Lake Forest 2, Calvin 1, Franklin and Marshall 1, Wheaton (Mass.) 1.