WEATHERFORD, Oklahoma--The Bellarmine University men's basketball team is No. 1 in the country according to the initial regular season NCAA Division II National Media Poll sponsored by D2SIDA, which was released Tuesday afternoon.

The Knights, which checked in at No. 2 in the preseason poll, moved up one spot after preseason No.1 Augustana lost to Washburn University in its first game of the season. Bellarmine out-pointed Tarleton State by nine in the poll (393-384), and California Baptist is third with West Liberty and Mount Olive rounding out the top five.

Bellarmine (2-0) opened its 2015-16 regular season this past weekend by picking up a pair of quality in-region wins over Northwood and Saginaw Valley.  The Knights will host Christian Brothers on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Two of Bellarmine's upcoming non-conference foes are among the ranked teams with Midwestern State checking in at No. 6 and the Railsplitters of Lincoln Memorial coming in at No. 16. Great Lakes Valley Conference rival Drury made the top 10 in the No. 9 position with Ferris State being the only other Midwest Region team to make the top 25 at No. 19.

D2SIDA is a division of the national College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Two members represent each of the eight NCAA regions and also make up the 16-member voting panel for the weekly national poll, which is now in its second season.


NCAA Division II Media Poll, Presented by D2SIDA
National Poll (Week 1, November 17)

Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Record	Votes	Previous
1	Bellarmine (10)	2-0	393	2
2	Tarleton State (4)	2-0	384	3
3	California Baptist (1)	5-0	350	6
4	West Liberty (1)	2-0	345	T4
5	Mount Olive	2-0	310	14
6	Midwestern State	1-0	303	7
7	Barry (Fla.)	1-0	298	12
8	Minn. St-Moorhead	4-1	265	13
9	Drury	1-0	233	20
10	Central Missouri	2-0	231	23
11	Southern Conn. State	2-0	227	T18
12	Augustana (S.D).	0-1	221	1
13	Chico State	1-0	194	17
14	Colorado Mines	2-0	187	T18
15	West Georgia	2-0	153	RV
16	Lincoln Memorial	1-1	140	T4
17	Bowie State	2-0	134	NR
18	King	2-0	131	NR
19	Ferris State	2-0	97	RV
20	Western Oregon	2-0	92	RV
21	Bentley (Mass.)	2-0	91	RV
22	Cal-Poly Pomona	2-0	64	22
23	NW Missouri State	1-1	58	10
24	Arkansas-Fort Smith	2-0	35	RV
25	Union (Tenn.)	2-0	25	NR
Also receiving votes: Alabama-Huntsville; Angelo State; Ashland; Augusta; Delta State; Fairmont State; Indiana (Pa.); Indianapolis; Lake Superior State; Lenoir-Rhyne; Lynn; Minnesota State-Mankato; Saginaw Valley State; UNC Pembroke; Washburn; Western Washington

NCAA Division II Media Poll, Presented by D2SIDA
Regional Poll (Preseason, November 16)

Atlantic Region
Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Record	Votes	Prev.
1	West Liberty (6)	2-0	1	60
2	Bowie State	2-0	T-5	50
3	Fairmont State	2-0	3	49
T-4	Mercyhurst	1-0	4	34
T-4	Indiana (Pa.)	1-1	2	34
6	East Stroudsburg	2-0	T-5	33
7	Wheeling Jesuit	2-0	8	26
8	Concord	2-0	RV	14
9	Gannon	0-0	7	12
10	St. Augustine's	2-0	NR	11
Central Region
Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Record	Votes	Prev.
1	Minnesota State - Moorhead (3)	4-1	48	3
2	Central Missouri	2-0	45	4
3	Augustana (S.D.)	0-1	40	1
4	Northwest Missouri State	1-1	31	2
5	Minnesota State - Mankato	1-1	27	5
6	Missouri Southern	1-1	22	6
7	Pittsburg State	2-0	17	NR
8	Winona State	1-0	10	8
T9	East Central	1-1	9	10
T9	Washburn	1-0	9	NR
East Region
Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Record	Votes	Prev.
1.	Southern Connecticut State (5)	2-0	59	1
2.	Bentley (Mass.) (1)	2-0	44	3
3.	Merrimack (Mass.)	2-0	42	4
4.	Holy Family (Pa.)	2-0	34	5
5.	Southern New Hampshire	2-0	32	7
6.	Stonehill (Mass.) (1)	2-0	24	6
7.	Philadelphia	2-0	22	T9
8.	Saint Anselm	2-0	18	NR
9.	St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.)	1-1	15	7
10.	Bridgetport (Conn.)	0-2	13	2
Midwest Region
Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Record	Votes	Prev.
1	Bellarmine (3)	2-0	30	1
2	Drury	1-0	27	3
3	Ferris State	2-0	22	5
4	Ashland	2-0	21	6
5	Saginaw Valley State	1-1	17	4
6	Lake Superior State	2-0	15	7
7	Indianapolis	1-1	14	NR
8	Wisconsin Parkside	1-0	9	9
T9	Lewis	2-0	4	NR
T9	Alderson-Broaddus	1-1	4	8
South Region
Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Record	Votes	Prev.
1	Barry (6)	1-0	60	1
2	West Georgia	2-0	47	4
3	Union (Tenn.)	2-0	45	6
4	Lynn	1-0	32	5
5	Delta State	2-0	31	9
6	Alabama-Huntsville	1-1	29	3
7	Benedict	2-0	28	10
8	Saint Leo	2-0	18	NR
9	Florida Southern	0-2	11	2
T10	Shorter (Ga.)	2-0	9	RV
T10	Florida Tech	2-0	9	NR
South Central Region
Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Record	Votes	Prev.
1	Tarleton State (4)	2-0	40	2
2	Midwestern State	1-0	35	1
3	Colorado Mines	2-0	29	4
4	Arkansas-Fort Smith	2-0	27	6
5	Angelo State	2-0	24	5
6	Colorado State-Pueblo	2-0	16	7
7	Fort Lewis	2-0	15	NR
8	Metro State	0-2	9	3
9	St. Edward's	2-0	8	NR
10	Rogers State	2-0	6	NR
Southeast Region
Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Record	Votes	Prev.
1.	Mount Olive (5)	2-0	58	3
2.	King (1)	2-0	47	8
3.	Lincoln Memorial	1-1	39	1
4.	UNC Pembroke	1-1	32	2
5.	Lenoir-Rhyne	2-0	30	NR
6.	Augusta	0-0	26	4
7.	Montevallo	1-0	21	3
7.	Queens	2-0	21	7
9.	Wingate	2-0	15	NR
10.	Lander	2-0	12	NR
West Region
Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Record	Votes	Prev.
1	California Baptist (5)	5-0	58	1
2	Chico State	1-0	49	2
3	Western Oregon (1)	2-0	47	5
4	Cal Poly Pomona	2-0	45	4
5	Western Washington	3-1	38	3
6	Seattle Pacific	1-1	20	T-6
7	BYU-Hawaii	0-0	15	8
T-8	Azusa Pacific	1-1	14	RV
T-8	Concordia-Irvine	2-0	14	NR
10	Dixie State	1-1	11	T-6