Pair of No. 1s Highlight This Week's Rankings Update

In the week nine NCAA Division II Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA) regular season media poll for men’s basketball UNC Pembroke climbed two spots to No. 12 nationally with 219 points while the Braves remained third in the Southeast Region with 48 points. Francis Marion joined the poll at No. 9 with nine points while Barton and Belmont Abbey also received votes. The complete polls are available here.

The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) also released its ninth regular season poll and UNC Pembroke, who is 17-1 on the season and 9-1 in league play, climbed three spots to No. 10 with 258 points. The poll is available here.

In the ninth edition of the D2SIDA women’s basketball regular season poll, Belmont Abbey remained at No. 5 in the Southeast Region with 31 points. The Crusaders are 12-3 this season and 9-0 in Conference Carolinas action. UNC Pembroke received votes in the poll. The full poll is available here.

In the pool, the updated Swimcloud Top-50 men’s dual rankings have Emmanuel 23rd with 689.65 points and Lees-McRae at No. 44 with 614.45 points. On the women’s side, Emmanuel was the lone program ranked as they were 36th with 618.30 points. The full rankings are available here.

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) released the NCAA Division II Men’s Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll sponsored by Tennis-Point and Belmont Abbey was ranked No. 25 to begin the year. The full poll is available here.

Off the Block released the first NCAA Division II coaches poll for 2023 and Conference Carolinas led all conferences with three teams ranked in the Top-10. North Greenville led the way at No. 7 with 46 points with Mount Olive No. 9 with 15 points and King No. 10 with 11 points. Barton, Belmont Abbey and Erskine each received votes in the poll which is available here.

The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) released the third Division II wrestling regular-season rankings of the 2022-23 season and South Atlantic Conference Carolinas was well represented. Lander led the way as they climbed three spots to No. 2 with 66 points. UNC Pembroke joined the Bearcats in the top-25 as they tied for 18th with 23 points. Lander had six individuals ranked while the Braves had three. Belmont Abbey also received votes in the poll. The full poll is available here. 

In the NWCA individual rankings, the league had 10 individuals ranked including two at No. 1 in Logan Seliga of UNC Pembroke at 125-pounds and Zeth Brower of Lander at 141-pounds. James Joplin of Lander joined Seliga at 125-pounds at No. 4 while his teammate Elijah Lusk is ranked sixth at 133-pounds. John Carayainnis of Belmont Abbey is ranked seventh at 141-pounds, Jake Piccirilli of UNC Pembroke is ranked 11th at 149-pounds, Logan Hall is ranked fourth at 184-pounds, Anthony Yacovetti of Lander is seventh and Bryce Walker of UNC Pembroke is 12th at 197-pounds and Juan Holmes of Lander is eighth at 285-pounds. The individual rankings can be seen here.

The second regular season Super Region II men’s wrestling rankings were released this week and Lander topped the poll with 96 total points followed by UNC Pembroke (84) and Newberry (61) to round out the top three. King is fourth with 58 points followed by Mount Olive (57), Belmont Abbey (49), Limestone (45), Emmanuel (24), Coker (6) and Lincoln Memorial. Lander had five individuals hold the top spot at 133, 141, 184, 197 and 285 pounds. UNC Pembroke had three individuals claim the top spot at 125, 149 and 165 pounds. Newberry (174) and King (157) each had one individual top their weight class. The complete poll is available here.