Entering the 2012 season:
| # | School (No. 1 votes) | Rec | Pts | 2011
final |
| 1 | UW-Whitewater (17) | 15-0 | 616 | 1 |
| 2 | Mount Union (8) | 14-1 | 608 | 2 |
| 3 | Wesley | 12-2 | 567 | 3 |
| 4 | Mary Hardin-Baylor | 12-1 | 536 | 5 |
| 5 | Linfield | 10-1 | 505 | 6 |
| 6 | North Central (Ill.) | 10-2 | 489 | 8 |
| 7 | Salisbury | 11-2 | 455 | 9 |
| 8 | St. Thomas | 13-1 | 435 | 4 |
| 9 | Delaware Valley | 11-1 | 384 | 13 |
| 10 | Wabash | 12-1 | 381 | 7 |
| 11 | St. John Fisher | 10-3 | 360 | 11 |
| 12 | Cal Lutheran | 8-2 | 288 | 12 |
| 13 | Franklin | 10-2 | 282 | 15 |
| 14 | Kean | 10-2 | 262 | 10 |
| 15 | Wheaton (Ill.) | 8-2 | 207 | 22 |
| 16 | Trinity (Texas) | 10-1 | 187 | 17 |
| 17 | Bethel | 8-2 | 185 | 25 |
| 18 | Redlands | 8-2 | 162 | 20 |
| 19 | Baldwin-Wallace | 8-2 | 140 | 23 |
| 20 | Thomas More | 9-2 | 116 | 24 |
| 21 | Illinois Wesleyan | 9-2 | 105 | 21 |
| 22 | Hobart | 7-2 | 103 | -- |
| 23 | UW-Platteville | 7-3 | 96 | -- |
| 24 | Birmingham-Southern | 7-2 | 87 | -- |
| 25 | Widener | 9-2 | 79 | -- |
Others receiving votes: Centre 77; Johns Hopkins 52; Hampden-Sydney 43; Monmouth 41; Louisiana College 38; UW-Oshkosh 35; St. Olaf 34; Dubuque 28; Albion 21; Cortland State 21; Christopher Newport 17; Illinois College 17; Adrian 10; Heidelberg 10; Montclair State 10; Wartburg 8; Case Western Reserve 5; Wittenberg 4; Alfred 3; Coe 3; Amherst 2; Central 2; TCNJ 2; Trinity (Conn.) 2; Randolph-Macon 1; St. John's 1; St. Vincent 1; Waynesburg 1; Willamette 1.
The D3football.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.