KANSAS CITY – The final men's basketball poll of 2025 has been released and the University of Pikeville has returned to the Top 25.
 
The Bears are No. 21 in the poll, released on Wednesday morning by the NAIA.
 
The vote was taken before Tuesday night's games were played; as a result, the University of the Cumberlands moved up six places to No. 3. Later that night, the Bears handed the Patriots their first loss of the season 86-80.
 
UPike is now 12-2 on the season and will take an 11-game winning streak into Saturday's meeting with the University of Rio Grande. The meeting with the Red Storm is the final game of the calendar year for the Bears.
 
The Bears are also unbeaten in the AAC at 7-0 and have a 2-1/2 game lead over second-place Johnson (Tenn.). UPike owns an 84-75 road win over the Royals already this season.
 
Between dates of the latest two ratings, UPike picked up two wins over Top 10 opponents. In addition to Cumberlands, the Bears defeated another former Mid-South Conference rival when they beat Life (Ga.) University 79-51 on the last day of November at The Show in Kingsport.
 
As a result, the Runnin' Eagles fell to 18^th in Wednesday's poll.
 
One reason the Bears are having the success they're enjoying is that they lead the nation in free-throw shooting. UPike is at 85.9 percent, the only team in the country shooting above 80 percent.
 
The two teams receiving first-place votes finished atop the poll. Grace (Ind.) is No. 1 with 16 first-place nods. The Lancers are11-0, followed by Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) University, receivers of two first-place votes.
 
Cumberlands is followed by Arizona Christian and Langston (Okla.) in the Top 5. Oklahoma Wesleyan, Bethel (Ind.), Ave Maria (Fla.), Indiana Tech and Indiana Wesleyan complete the Top 10.
 
UPike and Rio Grande wrap up pre-Christmas play when they meet Saturday in the historic Williamson Field House in Williamson, W.Va. The game tips off at 5:30 p.m. after a meeting between the women's programs at 3:30.