Grizzly men remain ninth in regional rankings

INDIANAPOLIS— Despite claiming a pair of home wins, including one over the second ranked team in the region, the Adams State College men’s basketball team remained in the ninth spot of this week’s NCAA Division II Central Regional Rankings, which were announced Wednesday by the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Committee.

The Grizzlies, who now have 14-6 NCAA Division II and in-region records, will have to move up at least one spot if they are to qualify for the NCAA Division II Tournament for the second time in school history as the regional rankings will eventually determine the at-large selections and seeding for the 8-team Central Regional portion of the national tournament.

The Grizzlies last competed in the NCAA tournament in 2007 and have now been ranked in four of this year’s five sets of weekly regional rankings.   Their No. 5 touting in the initial set of rankings on Jan. 26, was the highest in school history.

The Grizzlies, 18-6 overall, defeated Colorado Christian last Friday before knocking off Colorado Mines, which continues to be ranked second in the region on Saturday and have now won four straight heading into this Friday’s clash at Mesa State, ranked seventh in the region, which is made up of members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conferences.

Minnesota State continues to hold down the top spot and now has 21-3 NCAA Division II and 19-3 in-region records after claiming a pair of tight road wins last weekend.  Colorado Mines, which did defeat former No. 3 Fort Lewis before falling to the Grizzlies, is now 17-4 in NCAA Division II and in-region games.

Mary (N.D.) took over the No. 3 spot in this week’s rankings.  The Marauders defeated former St. Cloud State (Minn.) and new No. 10 Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) on the road last weekend and are now 20-4 in NCAA Division II games and 19-4 in in-region contests this season.  Fort Lewis, which did defeat Colorado Christian on Saturday, now sports 18-6 marks in those categories and is now ranked fourth.

Despite going 1-1 last week, Metro State moved up a spot to fifth in this week’s rankings.  The Roadrunners lost at home for the first time this season, falling to New Mexico Highlands, which remained in the No. 8 spot of the rankings, on Saturday.  The Roadrunners now have 17-6 NCAA Division II and in-region records.

Meanwhile, Augustana (S.D.) slipped a spot to No. 6 in this week’s rankings despite defeating Wayne State in their only NSIC game last week.  The Vikings are now 15-6 in Division II and in-region play.

Mesa State, which claimed a road win at Western State last weekend, is now 16-7 in Division II and in-region play.  New Mexico Highlands, which also won at Regis last weekend, is now 16-6 overall and 15-6 in Division II play.

Concordia-St. Paul, 14-9 in Division II play and 13-9 in in-region game, rounds out the top 10 rankings after Winona State (Minn.), the former No. 10 team in the rankings, went 1-1 against un-ranked teams last week while falling out of the rankings, which will be updated again next Wednesday

The final NCAA Division II Tournament selections will then be announced Sunday evening on a live webcast at 8 p.m. MST on www.ncaa.com.  The winners of the RMAC and NSIC Tournaments will receive automatic berths into the field.

Friday’s game at Mesa State (17-7, 13-7 RMAC), which will tip-off at 8 p.m. following an equally important 6 p.m. women’s clash, will also have major implications on the RMAC standings and RMAC Shootout seeding as the Grizzlies are currently tied with Fort Lewis for fourth place in the RMAC standings.  Both teams are a half-game behind New Mexico Highlands (15-6 RMAC) for third place and a game ahead of Mesa State, which hosts Fort Lewis Saturday in the final regular season game for both teams.

Adams State, which can set a new NCAA Division II era (1992-93/Present) school record for wins with a victory on Friday, will also play at Western State (7-18, 6-14 RMAC) on Saturday at 8 p.m.

Both of the Grizzlies’ games can be heard live on KSPK-FM (104.1 in Alamosa) and via the internet at www.kspk.com.

They can also be seen online with a single-game or season pass subscription to AmericaOne (formerly B2 Networks).  Live statistics for both games will also be available and can be accessed by clicking here for the Mesa State game or here for the Western State game.

NCAA Division II Central Region Men's Basketball Rankings
(as of Feb. 23)