Men's Basketball 3/4/2020 4:46:00 PM

Final Regular Season Regional Rankings Out From NCAA Basketball

Men's Regional Rankings
Women's Regional Rankings

INDIANAPOLIS – The final regular season NCAA Division II Basketball rankings were released on Wednesday and both Truman Basketball teams remained in the conversation for a tournament bid on Sunday.

The men remained number five after road wins over Maryville University and Missouri S&T to close the regular season as league co-champions in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Bulldogs are 20-8 overall and were 16-4 in GLVC action and will next take on Rockhurst at 6 p.m. on Friday in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.

Indianapolis remained atop the men's rankings for the third straight week and have a Division II record of 22-5 and conference record of 15-5. They were the number two seed and will play Southwest Baptist on Thursday evening before potentially facing the winner of the Truman/Rockhurst game in the semifinals.

Ferris State jumped up to second at 23-5 but lost at home in their conference quarterfinal round on Tuesday evening to Northern Michigan 70-69.

Missouri-St. Louis, who shared the GLVC crown with Truman, moved up to number three with a 19-5 Division II record. The Tritons were awarded the top seed based on the GLVC points rating system and will face Drury on Thursday in their quarterfinal game. The Panthers were ninth in the regional rankings.

Grand Valley State is fourth at 20-6 and won their quarterfinal game 73-60 over Ashland. They will get Michigan Tech in the GLIAC semifinal on Saturday. Michigan Tech is holding on to the eighth spot in the rankings.

Following Truman is Bellarmine at sixth and Southern Indiana at seventh. Those two will meet on Friday night in Edwardsville for potentially the final time as Division II programs. Bellarmine is moving up to Division I following the season.

Findlay was listed 10^th in the rankings and is the lone G-MAC team in the rankings. The winner of the G-MAC tournament will get an automatic spot in the field of eight for the regional tournament. Findlay moved into the semifinals following an 85-69 win over Lake Erie on Tuesday.

The Truman women moved up to ninth in the rankings this week after spending the previous two at number 10. The Bulldogs will get a chance to play their way into the field by facing #7 Lindenwood on Friday in the GLVC quarterfinals. The winner of that game will face most-likely #1 and undefeated Drury in the semifinals. Drury's opponent is Maryville University.

Ashland maintained pace with Drury at 28-0 and will face UW-Parkside in the GLIAC semifinals on Saturday. Grand Valley State, at number three in the rankings, is set for a date with Ashland if both can make the GLIAC Tournament championship. The Lakers will have to get past Wayne State on Saturday. Wayne State knocked off fifth-ranked Ferris State 78-76 to reach the GLIAC final four.

Walsh is number four and the top seed in the G-MAC Tournament. They will host Malone on Friday in the semifinals.

The next four spots are held by GLVC schools with Southern Indiana at sixth, Lindenwood at seventh, Lewis at eight and Truman at nine. USI gets Bellarmine at noon on Thursday and the winner of the Lewis/Indianapolis tilt in the semifinals.

Kentucky Wesleyan was listed as 10^th and had the hardest fall of any of the teams in the rankings. The Panthers were fifth last week but fell five spots after losing to Tiffin in double-overtime on the road 69-64. They bounced back to beat Tiffin on Tuesday 88-70 at home and will face Findlay in the G-MAC semifinals on Friday.

Once again the NCAA Division II Tournament will feature 64 teams from eight geographical regions. Truman and the entire GLVC is in the Midwest region, which also is occupied by schools from the GLIAC and G-MAC leagues.

The eight regional teams will be comprised of the three conference tournament champions, plus five at-large bids that will be announced on Sunday, March 8^th. The top seed on both the men's and women's side will be afforded the opportunity to host their respective regional tournament.

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