Ricky Nelson’s 2018 preseason top 25

Another year, another attempt at projecting the best teams in the NCAA Division III. It’ll all work itself out in the end. But in the meantime, tell me where I’m wrong.

Last year six of my top nine preseason teams made the national quarterfinals, so there’s room for improvement.

2018 Preseason top 25 1. Colorado College 2. Emory 3. Calvin 4. Washington-St. Louis 5. Gustavus Adolphus 6. Wittenberg 7. Illinois Wesleyan 8. Chicago 9. Johnson & Wales (R.I.) 10. Ithaca 11. St. Thomas 12. Berry 13. Carnegie Mellon 14. Tufts 15. Carthage 16. Juniata 17. Aurora 18. Whittier 19. Christopher Newport 20. Wisconsin-Eau Claire 21. Trinity (Texas) 22. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 23. Johns Hopkins 24. Southwestern 25. MIT

The Next 40: Augsburg; Babson; Bethel; Birmingham-Southern; Cal Lutheran; Case Western Reserve; Chapman; Clarkson; DePauw; DeSales; Eastern; Heidelberg; Hope; La Verne; Mary Hardin-Baylor; Mary Washington; Millikin; Muhlenberg; Northwestern; Ohio Northern; Otterbein; Pacific; Pacific Lutheran; Randolph-Macon; Saint Benedict; Scranton; Stevens; Swarthmore; Texas Dallas; Texas Lutheran; Texas Tyler; Vassar; Wartburg; Washington and Lee; Wellesley; Wesleyan; Wisconsin-La Crosse; Wisconsin-Oshkosh; Wisconsin-Stevens Point; Wisconsin-Whitewater.

-Ricky Nelson