INDIANAPOLIS – Great Midwest Athletic Conference regular season champion and tournament top seed Ohio Valley headlined the first edition of the NCAA Midwest Region rankings published by the national committee on Wednesday.
 
The Fighting Scots are getting ready to start the postseason as the undisputed favorite in the eight-team bracket. OVU is the top seed in the conference tourney that starts this weekend and will face No. 8 Walsh.
 
The Fighting Scots were selected after consideration by the regional advisory committee and ultimately, the national committee to be ranked ahead of all schools in the G-MAC, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC).
 
Also representing the Great Midwest is Davis & Elkins, which starts at sixth.
 
The top six teams from the Midwest Region will be selected as part of the NCAA Championship field. For the first time this season, automatic qualifiers are distributed to each league so a total of three at-large selections will be decided based on the final NCAA Midwest Region rankings.
 
Following Ohio Valley in the regional rankings is perennial powerhouse Rockhurst (GLVC), Saginaw Valley State (GLIAC), Maryville (GLVC) and Northwood (GLIAC).
 
Ohio Valley has assembled an NCAA DII and in-region record of 14-1-2 in the 2017 season while thriving under the third-year guidance of head coach Luis Rincon.
 
The Fighting Scots are also ranked sixth in the United Soccer Coaches National Poll.
 
Davis & Elkins, the No. 2 seed in the Great Midwest Championship and one of four quarterfinal hosts, has an 11-2-2 in-region and DII record. The Senators are ranked ahead of Lewis and Bellarmine, both of the GLVC.