NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Christopher Newport University men's basketball team is the top-ranked program in the nation for the first time ever. D3hoops.com released its first in-season poll of the season Monday night, and the Captains are slotted first with a 7-0 record to start the year.

John Krikorian's squad was ranked fourth in the pre-season poll from the website. The Captains are coming off two wins over the weekend over Sarah Lawrence and North Carolina Wesleyan to capture the title of the Holiday Inn Invitational at the Freeman Center. Their Saturday win over Sarah Lawrence marked the 1,000th victory in the program's 55-year history

Fellow Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference member Mary Washington is ranked 24th in the country thanks to a 4-1 start that includes a victory over Randolph-Macon, the pre-season number one pick and defending National Champions. The Yellow Jackets (4-1) are now ranked eighth. The Captains will play at Randolph-Macon on January 11th, and will meet Mary Washington twice in February. CNU also has a matchup with 11th-ranked Elmhurst (5-0) coming up on December 20th in Charlotte, N.C.

Christopher Newport opened the 2022-23 season by beating Johns Hopkins, ranked tenth in pre-season, in Baltimore. The Blue Jays have since won all five games they've played and have moved up to seventh in the nation. 

The Captains will play as the top-ranked team in the nation for the first time ever on Saturday, traveling to Danville, Va., to take on Averett University. Game time is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.


The complete poll from D3hoops.com: 

Through games of Nov. 27, 2022:

• Top 25 archive

#	School (No. 1 votes)	W-L	Pts.	Prev.
1	Christopher Newport (15)	7-0	609	4
2	Mount Union (5)	5-0	570	7
3	St. Joseph (Conn.) (1)	4-0	543	13
4	UW-La Crosse (3)	6-0	501	15
5	Williams	5-0	491	6
6	WPI	5-0	462	8
7	Johns Hopkins	5-1	411	10
8	Randolph-Macon (1)	4-1	405	1
9	Mary Hardin-Baylor	2-1	387	2
10	Rochester	5-1	341	11
11	Elmhurst	5-0	317	23
12	Oswego State	3-1	314	5
13	Middlebury	4-0	293	14
14	Keene State	6-0	289	--
15	UW-Oshkosh	5-2	280	3
16	John Carroll	5-0	257	--
17	Calvin	7-0	254	--
18	Case Western Reserve	4-0	233	19
19	RPI	5-0	159	--
20	Stockton	4-1	143	9
21	Wheaton (Ill.)	5-1	136	24
22	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps	5-1	127	--
23	Washington U.	4-1	94	16
24	Mary Washington	4-1	76	--
25	Wabash	5-1	74	--

Dropped out: No. 12 Pomona-Pitzer; No. 17 Marietta; No. 18 Trinity (Texas); No. 21 Illinois Wesleyan; No. 22 Wesleyan; No. 25 St. John's

Others receiving votes: Emory 59; Nazareth 47; Tufts 40; St. Thomas (Texas) 39; Swarthmore 38; Hope 29; Marietta 26; Rowan 12; Trinity (Texas) 12; Guilford 9; Trine 8; Catholic 6; Pomona-Pitzer 5; St. John's 5; Virginia Wesleyan 5; Roanoke 4; Illinois Wesleyan 4; Redlands 3; Hobart 2; Montclair State 2; Berry 1; Colby 1; Heidelberg 1; Nichols 1.

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. Points are awarded on a 25-24-23-22-etc. basis.