INDIANAPOLIS – Four Great Midwest Athletic Conference schools were represented in the first edition of the men’s basketball NCAA Midwest Region rankings that was announced Wednesday.
The Midwest Region is comprised of the Great Midwest, Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
Eight teams from eight different regions will advance to the NCAA Championship bracket with each conference receiving one automatic qualifier by way of winning their respective conference tournament title.
The remaining bids for the regional bracket are distributed to five at-large selections, determined by the order of the final Midwest Region rankings.
For the Great Midwest, No. 15 NABC-ranked Findlay led the way ranked second just behind Ferris State (GLIAC).
The G-MAC’s Hillsdale followed behind ranked sixth in the region with Malone and Walsh rounding out the league’s representation ranking eighth and ninth, respectively.
Bellarmine (GLVC) is ranked third followed by Lake Superior State (GLIAC) and Southern Indiana (GLVC). Drury (GLVC) and UIndy (GLVC) check in at seventh and 10th.
All four Great Midwest regionally-ranked programs have clinched their postseason bids to the conference tournament as the regular season winds down to a close.
Findlay has already clinched the regular season title in the conference standings to earn the right to host the Great Midwest Championship in Croy Gymnasium. The Oilers (22-3, 16-1 G-MAC) will be the No. 1 seed in the eight-team bracket.
Findlay welcomed the return of a brief absence from two-time athlete of the week Taren Sullivan, who went down in a scary fall on ESPN3 against Kentucky Wesleyan. Sullivan initially came back in a reserve role against Lake Erie, but has since settled back into the starting rotation for head coach Charlie Ernst.
Hillsdale’s in-region resume is extremely strong with early wins against the likes of Southern Indiana, Illinois Springfield (GLVC), Lewis (GLVC), Purdue Northwest (GLIAC) and Saginaw Valley State (GLIAC). The Chargers (18-7, 12-6 G-MAC) have won their last three at home but also dropped three straight on the road and will look to right the ship after being second in the G-MAC standings most of the year.
No team has been hotter as of late than Malone as the Pioneers (19-7, 12-6 G-MAC) snapped Findlay’s 16-game win streak. Led by scoring machine Ty Jordan and underrated veteran players Nate Sheppard and Mitchell Spotleson, Malone has established itself as a dangerous draw and legitimate title threat in the conference tourney.
Three-time Great Midwest Athlete of the Week Chandler Vaudrin has the Cavaliers (18-6, 13-5 G-MAC) of Walsh on a roll as winners of three straight. Vaudrin posted his fourth triple-double and Walsh has been a force near the top of the conference standings, currently sitting in second.
One of two memorable buzzer beaters (Ohio Dominican’s Shemar Waugh) so far, Walsh’s Darryl Straughter also provided one of the most exciting moments in the conference to sink Hillsdale as time expired.