Release courtesy of John Kean, Sports Information Director, Missouri S&T
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the first time
ever, a team from the South Atlantic Conference heads the national
rankings for NCAA Division II as Lincoln Memorial is the new No.
1-ranked squad in the latest NABC/Division II men’s
basketball poll.
The Railsplitters, who stand at 14-0 on the season, moved to the
top spot after losses last week by the top two teams, Metropolitan
State and Southern Indiana. They will face an immediate test
this week as the nation’s No. 1 team, as they are slated to
play Saturday at Anderson, a team that handed them two of their
three losses a year ago.
Kentucky Wesleyan moved up two spots as well to No. 2, while
fellow Great Lakes Valley Conference member Bellarmine moved up to
No. 3. West Liberty also advanced back into the top five at
No. 4, while Metropolitan State slipped to No. 5 after its loss
Friday at Colorado School of Mines, who jumped to ninth as a result
of that victory.
Tarleton State moved up to No. 6 this week, followed by Southern Indiana, who dropped five places after a loss to Missouri S&T, with Northern Kentucky jumping three spots to No. 8. Colorado School of Mines and Cal Poly Pomona rounded out the top 10.
Midwestern State, one of the four remaining undefeated teams in
Division II, begins the second 10 at No. 11, followed by Bowie
State, Winona State, Indiana (Pa.) and Christian Brothers, one of
six new teams in this week’s poll. Minnesota
State-Moorhead moved up to No. 16, followed by Alabama-Huntsville,
Hillsdale, Fort Hays State and Montevallo.
The final five teams in this week’s poll are St. Cloud
State, District of Columbia, Missouri Southern, Northwest Missouri
State and West Georgia.
NABC/Division II Coaches Poll (Jan. 10, 2012) |
||||
Rank |
Institution |
Record |
Points |
Last Week |
1. |
Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. (6 first place votes) |
14-0 |
196 |
3 |
2. |
Kentucky Wesleyan (2 first place votes) |
12-0 |
194 |
4 |
3. |
Bellarmine, Ky. |
11-1 |
186 |
5 |
4. |
West Liberty, W.Va. |
12-1 |
163 |
7 |
5. |
Metropolitan State, Colo. |
13-1 |
159 |
1 |
6. |
Tarleton State, Texas |
11-1 |
154 |
9 |
7. |
Southern Indiana |
11-1 |
151 |
2 |
8. |
Northern Kentucky |
12-0 |
145 |
11 |
9. |
Colorado School of Mines |
12-1 |
142 |
12 |
10. |
Cal Poly Pomona |
9-1 |
129 |
6 |
11. |
Midwestern State, Texas |
12-0 |
126 |
16 |
12. |
Bowie State, Md. |
9-1 |
115 |
15 |
13. |
Winona State, Minn. |
13-2 |
88 |
10 |
14. |
Indiana, Pa. |
10-2 |
81 |
20 |
15. |
Christian Brothers, Tenn. |
11-2 |
69 |
NR |
16. |
Minnesota State-Moorhead |
12-1 |
59 |
19 |
17. |
Alabama-Huntsville |
9-3 |
52 |
13 |
18. |
Hillsdale, Mich. |
13-1 |
46 |
NR |
19. |
Fort Hays State, Kan. |
10-3 |
45 |
8 |
20. |
Montevallo, Ala. |
12-2 |
39 |
NR |
21. |
St. Cloud State, Minn. |
11-2 |
33 |
NR |
22. |
District of Columbia |
12-1 |
31 |
NR |
23. |
Missouri Southern |
12-3 |
29 |
14 |
24. |
Northwest Missouri State |
12-1 |
27 |
NR |
25. |
West Georgia |
14-2 |
26 |
25 |
Dropped out: Findlay (17), Alaska-Anchorage (18), Augustana (21), Arkansas Tech (22), Western Washington (23), Benedict (24).
Records and previous rankings are through games of Jan. 8, 2012. The next poll will be released on Tuesday, Jan. 17.