Entering the 2008-09 season:
| # | Team | W-L | Pts. | Last poll |
| 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.
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.