KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Already ranked No. 1 by the Division II Bulletin, the Bellarmine Knghts men's basketball team picked up another high preseason ranking today when the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) released its preseason picks for 2016-17, coming in at the No. 3 position.
Two teams that hooked up in a classic national semifinal contest in March stand atop the NABC/Division II pre-season rankings heading into the start of the 2016-17 season this weekend.
West Liberty and Lincoln Memorial, who hooked up in a game that ended at 103-102 in LMU's favor in the national semifinals, hold the top two spots in the poll with West Liberty at the top. They head a group of six schools in the pre-season rankings either played in the Elite Eight in the last two seasons or reached a regional championship game a year ago.
Bellarmine, a 2015 national semifinalist, holds down the third spot while last year's Midwest Regional champion, Saginaw Valley State, is fourth. Two teams that fell in their respective regional title games fell into the next two spots, with Alabama-Huntsville fifth and Northwest Missouri State sixth.
Wheeling Jesuit, the second of three Mountain East teams in the top 25, is seventh this week while St. Thomas Aquinas, who parlayed a pre-season win over St. John's last fall into one of its best seasons in school history, is ranked eighth.
California Baptist checks in at No. 9 in the pre-season poll while South Central Regional champion Tarleton State rounds out the top 10 as the first of three ranked Lone Star Conference schools.
Two teams from the West region, Chico State and Alaska Anchorage, begin the second 10, followed by Southern Connecticut State, Atlantic Regional finalist Kutztown and Fort Lewis. Another regional champion, Barry, came in at No. 16.
The two Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference entries hold the next two spots, with NSIC pre-season favorite Minnesota State edging defending national champion Augustana for the 17
th spot. They are followed by the other two LSC teams, Angelo State and Midwestern State.
Colorado School of Mines heads the final five in the pre-season, which includes Drury, UAFS, Indiana (Pa.) and Fairmont State. UAFS is the only top 25 team that will play this weekend in the Division II Tip-Off Classic in Anaheim, while Alaska Anchorage will also get its season started Friday.
Among the other highlights in the Division II slate in November is the inaugural Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Evansville, Ind., a field that will include Lincoln Memorial, Bellarmine and UAH. That event begins a day after the Nov. 17 rematch of the Central Regional championship game between Augustana and Northwest Missouri State.
NABC/Division II Rankings
(Nov. 1, 2016 – Pre-Season Poll) |
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Record |
Points |
Last |
| 1. |
West Liberty, W.Va. (11) |
31-4 |
394 |
5 |
| 2. |
Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. |
34-3 |
368 |
1 |
| 3. |
Bellarmine, Ky. (4) |
23-7 |
357 |
15 |
| 4. |
Saginaw Valley State, Mich. |
25-8 |
282 |
25 |
| 5. |
Alabama-Huntsville |
25-8 |
276 |
NR |
| 6. |
Northwest Missouri State |
27-6 |
270 |
11 |
| 7. |
Wheeling Jesuit, W.Va. |
28-4 |
257 |
6 |
| 8. |
St. Thomas Aquinas, N.Y. |
27-5 |
242 |
NR |
| 9. |
California Baptist |
28-7 |
210 |
14 |
| 10. |
Tarleton State, Texas |
24-9 |
201 |
NR |
| 11. |
Chico State, Calif. |
22-7 |
195 |
20 |
| 12. |
Alaska Anchorage |
21-11 |
189 |
NR |
| 13. |
Southern Connecticut State |
22-8 |
185 |
NR |
| 14. |
Kutztown, Pa. |
23-7 |
156 |
NR |
| 15. |
Fort Lewis, Colo. |
28-4 |
127 |
4 |
| 16. |
Barry, Fla. |
26-7 |
115 |
19 |
| 17. |
Minnesota State |
22-10 |
109 |
NR |
| 18. |
Augustana, S.D. |
34-2 |
105 |
2 |
| 19. |
Angelo State, Texas |
25-7 |
98 |
16 |
| 20. |
Midwestern State, Texas |
24-6 |
92 |
7 |
| 21. |
Colorado School of Mines |
24-8 |
91 |
NR |
| 22. |
Drury, Mo. |
19-8 |
81 |
NR |
| 23. |
UAFS |
23-9 |
76 |
NR |
| 24. |
Indiana, Pa. |
21-8 |
66 |
NR |
| 25. |
Fairmont State, W.Va. (1) |
25-5 |
62 |
8 |
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Others receiving votes: Queens (N.C.) 55, Western Oregon 44, Indianapolis (Ind.) 42, Delta State (Miss.) 41, Montevallo (Ala.) 32, West Texas A&M 32, Kentucky Wesleyan 31, Lander (S.C.) 31, West Georgia 31, Southern New Hampshire 28, Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 24, MSU Moorhead (Minn.) 17, Eckerd (Fla.) 16, Philadelphia (Pa.) 16, Quincy (Ill.) 15, Seattle Pacific (Wash.) 15, Stonehill (Mass.) 13, Lewis (Ill.) 12, East Stroudsburg (Pa.) 11, Wisconsin-Parkside 11, Barton (N.C.) 9, Western Washington 9, Wingate (N.C.) 9, Washburn (Kan.) 8, Benedict (S.C.) 7, Ashland (Ohio) 6, Virginia State 6, Virginia Union 6, Dixie State (Utah) 5, East Central (Okla.) 4, Dallas Baptist (Texas) 3, UC San Diego 3, Point Loma (Calif.) 2, MSU Denver (Colo.) 1, West Florida 1.
Records are final from 2015-16 season. Last ranking was from the final 2015-16 poll.
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