Release courtesy of John Kean, Sports Information Director, Missouri S&T
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Colorado School of
Mines has reached the No. 1 spot in the national rankings for the
first time in school history, taking hold of the top position in
the final NABC/Division II men’s basketball rankings as the
NCAA Division II Tournament gets underway this weekend.
The Orediggers, champions of the Rocky Mountain Athletic
Conference, received all eight first place votes and will take
their top ranking into the Central Regional that they will host
beginning on Saturday. The top five spots in the final poll
are held by teams that will host regional tournaments on the road
to the Elite Eight in Highland Heights, Ky.
Alabama-Huntsville, the South Regional host, is ranked second and
Atlantic Regional host West Liberty comes in at No. 3. Last
week’s top-ranked team, Bellarmine, fell in the Great Lakes
Valley Conference semifinals and dropped to fourth in the poll, but
will host the Midwest Regional this weekend while South Central
Regional host Midwestern State is ranked No. 5.
Southern Indiana, who handed Bellarmine the semifinal loss on its
way to winning the GLVC Tournament, moved up to No. 6 and is
followed by Shaw, Christian Brothers, Tarleton State and Indiana
(Pa.) – all of whom are No. 2 seeds behind the top five teams
in the poll in their respective regional tournaments.
Northern Kentucky, the host school for the Elite Eight, is ranked 11th this week, with West Regional host Western Washington, Metropolitan State, Anderson and Arkansas Tech taking the next four spots in the rankings. The No. 16 team is Alaska-Anchorage, who is followed by Charleston, Kentucky Wesleyan, Washburn – in the Top 25 for the first time this season – and Hillsdale.
The final five teams in the final poll are Northwest Missouri State, Southeast Regional host Montevallo, Missouri Southern, Lincoln Memorial and Findlay. The regional tournaments begin Friday with the West Regional, while the other seven regional events get underway with first round games on Saturday.
|
NABC/Division II Coaches Poll (March 6, 2012) |
||||
|
Rank |
Team |
Record |
Points |
Previous |
|
1. |
Colo. School of Mines (8 first place votes) |
27-2 |
200 |
2 |
|
2. |
Alabama-Huntsville |
26-3 |
192 |
3 |
|
3. |
West Liberty, W.Va. |
29-2 |
182 |
4 |
|
4. |
Bellarmine, Ky. |
25-3 |
175 |
1 |
|
5. |
Midwestern State, Texas |
26-3 |
168 |
6 |
|
6. |
Southern Indiana |
24-6 |
143 |
13 |
|
7. |
Shaw, N.C. |
25-3 |
142 |
5 |
|
8. |
Christian Brothers, Tenn. |
23-6 |
139 |
8 |
|
9. |
Tarleton State, Texas |
26-5 |
138 |
7 |
|
10. |
Indiana, Pa. |
23-5 |
112 |
9 |
|
11. |
Northern Kentucky |
23-6 |
109 |
10 |
|
12. |
Western Washington |
25-5 |
107 |
11 |
|
13. |
Metropolitan State, Colo. |
22-6 |
102 |
12 |
|
14. |
Anderson, S.C. |
24-5 |
80 |
16 |
|
15. |
Arkansas Tech |
24-5 |
78 |
21 |
|
16. |
Alaska-Anchorage |
22-6 |
77 |
15 |
|
17. |
Charleston, W.Va. |
26-6 |
60 |
22 |
|
18. |
Kentucky Wesleyan |
21-7 |
50 |
14 |
|
19. |
Washburn, Kan. |
24-7 |
44 |
NR |
|
20. |
Hillsdale, Mich. |
24-5 |
43 |
NR |
|
21. |
Northwest Missouri State |
22-6 |
42 |
18 |
|
22. |
Montevallo, Ala. |
24-7 |
33 |
NR |
|
23. |
Missouri Southern |
22-7 |
27 |
19 |
|
24. |
Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. |
25-5 |
26 |
17 |
|
25. |
Findlay, Ohio |
23-6 |
20 |
NR |
Others receiving votes: West Georgia 18,
Indianapolis (Ind.) 15, District of Columbia 12, Franklin Pierce
(N.H.) 10, King (Tenn.) 8, LIU-C.W. Post (N.Y.) 8, Bloomfield
(N.J.) 6, Seattle Pacific (Wash.) 6, South Carolina Aiken 6,
Stonehill (Mass.) 5, Missouri-St. Louis 4, Florida Tech
3.
Dropped out: Indianapolis (20), District of Columbia (23), Franklin Pierce (24), Seattle Pacific (25).
Records and previous rankings are through games of March 4, 2012.
NABC/Division II Coaches Poll (Jan. 31, 2012)
Record Points Pvs
1. Bellarmine, Ky. (8 first place votes) 18-1 200 1
2. West Liberty, W.Va. 19-1 191 2
3. Tarleton State, Texas 19-1 185 4
4. Winona State, Minn. 19-2 176 6
5. Colorado School of Mines 17-2 158 11
6. Alabama-Huntsville 15-3 146 12
7. Kentucky Wesleyan 16-3 145 7
8. Southern Indiana 16-3 140 8
9. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. 18-2 135 5
10. Christian Brothers, Tenn. 15-3 113 15
11. Midwestern State, Texas 16-2 112 10
12. Metropolitan State, Colo. 17-3 108 3
13. Indiana, Pa. 15-3 106 16
14. Shaw, N.C. 16-2 91 17
15. Northern Kentucky 15-4 79 9
16. Western Washington 18-3 78 18
17. Bowie State, Md. 15-3 75 19
18. Hillsdale, Mich. 17-2 71 20
19. West Georgia 18-3 63 22
20. St. Cloud State, Minn. 16-3 48 13
21. Alaska-Anchorage 15-4 42 25
22. Northwest Missouri State 16-3 37 NR
23. Missouri Southern 16-5 15 14
24. South Carolina Aiken 15-4 12 24
25. (tie) King, Tenn. 17-3 11 NR
25. (tie) Winston-Salem State, N.C. 15-3 11 NR