FINAL 2011-12 Season Poll:
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)
Record
Points
Pvs
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.