LEWISBURG, Pa.— The Colorado Mesa University women's swimming and diving team was picked second while the Maverick men were slotted third in the pre-season edition of the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA)'s NCAA Division II Top 25 dual meet polls, released by the organization on Friday morning.
 
The poll committees, consisting of Division II coaches, assesses and ranks the nation's top 25 dual meet teams in monthly polls.  Their evaluation takes into account head-to-head dual meet outcomes, performances since the last rankings, season-long performances, dual meet records, roster changes (such as injuries), and data from the SwimCloud Simulator. It is important to note that the poll's objective is not to predict the top finishers in a championship meet format.
 
The Maverick women received 243 points in the poll, just one fewer than top-ranked Nova Southeastern, which won last year's NCAA Division II National Championship.  The Maverick finished a program-best fourth a year ago and were the top-ranked team in the December edition of the poll last season (2022-23) for the initial time in program history.
 
Indianapolis (232), Drury (221) and Tampa (220) round out the top 5 of this pre-season poll.
 
The Mavs are one of four Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference squads in the top 25 of the poll with affiliate members Simon Fraser and Oklahoma Christian checking in at the No. 13 and 18 positions, respectively, ahead of No. 22 Colorado School of Mines.
 
The men's poll is topped by defending national champion Indianapolis, which received 249 points in the poll.  McKendree is ranked second at 235 while the Mavs have 223, one more than fourth-ranked Drury.  Tampa rounds out the top five with 208 points.
 
11^th-ranked Oklahoma Christian, No. 17 Simon Fraser and No. 22 Mines also represent the RMAC in the top 25 while UT-Permian Basin is the third of eight teams in the also receiving votes category.
 
The Maverick men finished fifth at last year's NCAA Division II Championships.
 
The CMU squads have already competed in two meets, posting impressive results against mostly Division I foes.
 
The Mavs are off this weekend but will return to competitive action next Saturday (Oct. 21), when they will head to Golden, Colorado for RMAC duals at Mines.
 
Future editions of the CSCAA polls are scheduled for release on Nov. 17, Dec. 15, Jan. 26, Feb. 9 and Mar. 1, all of which are Fridays.