Findlay Climbs to No. 17 in the Latest NABC Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll

Posted: Jan 03, 2012

Release courtesy of John Kean, Sports Information Director, Missouri S&T

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The first NABC/Division II men’s basketball rankings for 2012 find the same five teams at the top as it stood in the final 2011 poll, led by Metropolitan State in the No. 1 spot for the third week in succession.

Metro State, which won both of its games last week to improve to 12-0, received five of the eight first place votes in this week’s poll. The Roadrunners are followed by the three teams that each received a first place vote, Southern Indiana, Lincoln Memorial, Kentucky Wesleyan, with Bellarmine remaining at No. 5.

Cal Poly Pomona used two road victories, including one at Cal State-San Bernardino, to vault over West Liberty into the No. 6 spot in the new poll. West Liberty remained at No. 7, followed by three teams that all moved up one position in Fort Hays State, Tarleton State and Winona State to round out the top 10.

Northern Kentucky, one of eight remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division II, moved up two spots this week to No. 11, with Colorado School of Mines and Alabama-Huntsville occupying the next two spots in the poll. Missouri Southern dropped eight spots to No. 14 following its loss Friday at Pittsburg State, while Bowie State retains the No. 15 position this week.

Midwestern State is ranked 16th this week, followed by Findlay, Alaska-Anchorage, Minnesota State-Moorhead and Indiana (Pa.). The final five teams in this week’s poll are Augustana, Arkansas Tech, Western Washington, Benedict and West Georgia, whose 13-1 start has resulted in its first appearance in the national rankings since Dec. 4, 2007. (Augustana and Benedict lost games Monday night, but those games were not reflected in this week’s rankings.)

NABC/Division II Coaches Poll (Jan. 3, 2012)
		Record	Points	Pvs
1.	Metropolitan State, Colo. (5)	12-0	197	1
2.	Southern Indiana (1)	10-0	189	2
3.	Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. (1)	12-0	183	3
4.	Kentucky Wesleyan (1)	10-0	180	4
5.	Bellarmine, Ky.	9-1	170	5
6.	Cal Poly Pomona	8-0	158	8
7.	West Liberty, W.Va.	10-1	153	7
8.	Fort Hays State, Kan.	9-1	137	9
9.	Tarleton State, Texas	10-1	135	10
10.	Winona State, Minn.	10-1	127	11
11.	Northern Kentucky	10-0	120	13
12.	Colorado School of Mines	10-1	104	12
13.	Alabama-Huntsville	8-2	99	14
14.	Missouri Southern	11-2	91	6
15.	Bowie State, Md.	8-1	84	15
16.	Midwestern State, Texas	11-0	81	19
17.	Findlay, Ohio	10-2	73	18
18.	Alaska-Anchorage	9-2	64	20
19.	Minnesota State-Moorhead	9-0	55	21
20.	Indiana, Pa.	8-2	29	23
21.	Augustana, S.D.	8-2	27	22
22.	Arkansas Tech	8-2	26	17
23.	Western Washington	12-2	20	NR
24.	Benedict, S..C.	3-1	17	24
25.	West Georgia	13-1	11	NR

Others receiving votes: Georgia Southwestern 10, Southwestern Oklahoma State 9, Christian Brothers (Tenn.) 8, Clayton State (Ga.) 8, Bentley (Mass.) 8, Hillsdale (Mich.) 7, Montevallo (Ala.) 7, St. Cloud State (Minn.) 5, Northwest Missouri State 3, Humboldt State (Calif.) 2, Western Oregon 2, Franklin Pierce (N.H.) 1, West Texas A&M 1.

Dropped out: Humboldt State (16), Winston-Salem State (25).

Records and previous rankings are through games of Jan. 1, 2012. The next poll will be released on Tuesday, Jan. 10.