NCAA Regional "Under Consideration" Rankings
NABC Top-25 Rankings (Feb. 16)
INDIANAPOLIS – The end of the regular season in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference men's basketball schedule is nearing completion with an NCAA Championship planning to be conducted in Division II.
Several teams in the Great Midwest have a legitimate opportunity – either through automatic qualifier or at-large selection(s) – to compete in the Atlantic Regional once the conference tournament crowns a champion.
The NCAA traditionally releases three different set of regional rankings throughout the regular season and while the Great Midwest is normally aligned with the Midwest Region, a number factors including geographical proximity and actual conferences conducting a playing season, led to temporary shift to the Atlantic Region.
The Atlantic Region will include (6) bids to the national tournament, including AQ's from the Great Midwest and Mountain East Conference. That leaves (4) remaining at-large selections with the Great Midwest, MEC and a handful of competing Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) programs and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).
On Wednesday, the NCAA published an announcement of teams "Under Consideration" across Division II. Great Midwest programs in that list include Hillsdale (16-1), Findlay (13-4) and Kentucky Wesleyan (9-4).
So what does "Under Consideration" mean? (8) teams across six regions in Division II were alphabetically listed as basketball programs with essentially a chance for national championship seeding. The regional advisory committee will apply certain criteria (i.e. In-Region RPI, SOS, winning % vs. opponents above .500) to rank teams before their recommendations are approved by the national committee. So while it may be more difficult to track where a program may stand week-to-week, it gives observers a general idea of who is at least in the picture. It still leaves this list open to a lot of interpretation and may not quite provide a full answer as to why a team dropped out or moved in by the time Selection Sunday arrives. Teams should still be motivated to perform at their highest level with an at-large selection certainly not guaranteed at any point. National rankings through the NABC or D2SIDA organizations also have no bearing on region rankings.
Hillsdale has locked in a share of the conference regular season title and can clinch outright with a win on Saturday at home vs. Ohio Valley. It appeared the Chargers did enough to crack the top 10 nationally last week, but will carry a 13-game win streak followed by last night's road victory at Ohio Dominican, into the weekend. HC remained idle in the new NABC Poll at 11.
After being ranked as high as No. 6, Findlay absorbed a little bit of a hit but has been resurgent with 30-point margins of victory both against Walsh and Kentucky Wesleyan. The Oilers ran into a Malone team that had won 7 of its past 8 and dropped from No. 12 to No. 23 in the national rankings. Findlay still remains in position to host a first-round quarterfinal playoff game.
The Panthers of Kentucky Wesleyan are another program in the top tier of the conference standings and had won five straight before faltering at Findlay. At 10-5 with four remaining games on the schedule, the Panthers are also another potential host of first-round playoff action in Owensboro.
The official 8-team conference tournament field will not be announced until the final day of the regular season on Sunday, Feb. 28. All (8) teams are qualifying for the Great Midwest Championship bracket through the Point Rating System (PRS). The PRS is updated following any conference contest by the end of the day.
The previously approved bracket size reduction of 25% means that the traditional field of 64 teams is now a 48-team bracket for the 2020-21 national tournament in Division II.
It was also already announced by the championships committee that West Liberty University will serve as the Atlantic Region predetermined host site in West Liberty, WV, in the Academic/Sports Recreation Complex.
The NCAA Selection Show for Division II men's basketball is scheduled for Sunday, March 7, at 10:30 p.m. ET exclusively on NCAA.com.
Regional quarterfinal games will begin Saturday, March 13, followed by the semifinals Sunday, March 14, and the regional championship Tuesday, March 16. Winners will advance to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Elite Eight in Evansville, Indiana, on March 24-27.