March 2nd Regional Rankings

[Peacock]

Games through Sunday

CENTRAL
Rank	School (Conf)	DII Rec	In-Reg	LW
1	Augustana (NSIC)	22-2	22-2	1
2	Upper Iowa (NSIC)	25-4	24-4	2
3	Minnesota Duluth (NSIC)	23-4	23-4	3
4	Northwest Missouri State (MIAA)	23-5	22-5	5
5	Central Oklahoma (MIAA)	21-5	21-5	4
6	Southeastern Oklahoma State (GAC)	22-5	21-5	6
7	Fort Hays State (MIAA)	19-5	19-5	7
8	Oklahoma Baptist (GAC)	20-8	20-8	8
9	Washburn (MIAA)	17-9	17-9	9
10	Northern State (NSIC)	19-12	19-12	10

Dropped Out: None

The NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Selection Show is set to air on NCAA.com at 9:30 p.m. (CT) on Sunday, March 6. The eight regional championships will be played at host sites on March 12, 13 and 15. The NCAA Elite Eight will take place on March 22, 24, 26 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

[simple as a $3 bill]

I guess that this poll means that moorhead absolutely deserves kudos for winning the conference tourney. Without getting that automatic bid, their season would have been over like it is for most of us. There is a lot to be said to having a crappy season but getting hot at the right time in order to now consider your season a success.

[MrMustang]

looks like NSIC will get 4 teams

[Peacock]

looks like NSIC will get 4 teams

Most likely a Moorhead vs. Augie/UIU/UMD first round match-up as well. If NWMU can take their conf tourney they may move up to #3 .

[Moorhead123]

I guess that this poll means that moorhead absolutely deserves kudos for winning the conference tourney. Without getting that automatic bid, their season would have been over like it is for most of us. There is a lot to be said to having a crappy season but getting hot at the right time in order to now consider your season a success.

[Moorhead123]

Moorhead 1-0 against augie, 0-1 against UIU (lost at buzzer), 1-2 against UMD, 1-0 against SE Oklahoma (won at buzzer), 0-1 against Oklahoma Baptist (lost in 2OT), 1-1 against Northern State (lost at nsu in 2OT).

[Moorhead123]

Moral of story is to schedule cupcake d2 teams in preseason, if at all possible. Msum 5 preseason games this season were at West Teaxas A&M (elite 8 last season), Daemon (elite 8 last season), Colorado Mesa (elite 8 last season), SE Oklahoma (top team in gac) and at Oklahoma Baptist (second team in gac). Apparently, no credit given in regional rankings for the difficult schedule and early tough road losses. Why take such a chance in future, especially when typically facing difficult nsic conference schedule.

[NSU4LIFE]

Moorhead 1-0 against augie, 0-1 against UIU (lost at buzzer), 1-2 against UMD, 1-0 against SE Oklahoma (won at buzzer), 0-1 against Oklahoma Baptist (lost in 2OT), 1-1 against Northern State (lost at nsu in 2OT).

Your example shows you 4-5 in this sample size...before you say anything more about NSU, no one ever said anything besides they win the tourney or they don't get in.

Keep in mind you had two weekends off so you only played 11 of the 15 conference opponents and managed to lose atleast one game to seven of them. Win the conference tourney was the only road into the regional (I asked someone in the know and they agreed, not that you need to believe me) which I heard that you did. A win over Augie was solid but doesnt leapfrog you from unranked, double digit losing team into a 4th conference, at large bid. I would assume you don't care, as this is just a message board, but complaining about not getting compliments is exactly why no one wanted to compliment you in the end. I know you are fairly new to these boards but someday you'll get why you get treated like you do at times.

As far as scheduling cupcakes....I don't know where you are going with this. A few years ago you touted a win over Simon Fraser...

Northern had the Central region challenge which was #11 Washburn and RV Southern Arkansas. They had the Hall of Fame Classic where they had #1 Northwest and Rockfort. (You don't pick your opponents for these) next they had the East/West challenge (a yearly thing) in which they had the RMAC regular season champ Black Hills and SD Mines.

According to Massey NSU had the 9th toughest schedule while Moorhead had the 11th toughest in the country (had Moorhead got those four missed games in, maybe that changes)

Again, you won and got it but maybe contact your fact checking buddy when talking about cupcake schedules.

[Moorhead123]

Your example shows you 4-5 in this sample size...before you say anything more about NSU, no one ever said anything besides they win the tourney or they don't get in.

Keep in mind you had two weekends off so you only played 11 of the 15 conference opponents and managed to lose atleast one game to seven of them. Win the conference tourney was the only road into the regional (I asked someone in the know and they agreed, not that you need to believe me) which I heard that you did. A win over Augie was solid but doesnt leapfrog you from unranked, double digit losing team into a 4th conference, at large bid. I would assume you don't care, as this is just a message board, but complaining about not getting compliments is exactly why no one wanted to compliment you in the end. I know you are fairly new to these boards but someday you'll get why you get treated like you do at times.

As far as scheduling cupcakes....I don't know where you are going with this. A few years ago you touted a win over Simon Fraser...

Northern had the Central region challenge which was #11 Washburn and RV Southern Arkansas. They had the Hall of Fame Classic where they had #1 Northwest and Rockfort. (You don't pick your opponents for these) next they had the East/West challenge (a yearly thing) in which they had the RMAC regular season champ Black Hills and SD Mines.

According to Massey NSU had the 9th toughest schedule while Moorhead had the 11th toughest in the country (had Moorhead got those four missed games in, maybe that changes)

Again, you won and got it but maybe contact your fact checking buddy when talking about cupcake schedules.

[Randy]

Moral of story is to schedule cupcake d2 teams in preseason, if at all possible. Msum 5 preseason games this season were at West Teaxas A&M (elite 8 last season), Daemon (elite 8 last season), Colorado Mesa (elite 8 last season), SE Oklahoma (top team in gac) and at Oklahoma Baptist (second team in gac). Apparently, no credit given in regional rankings for the difficult schedule and early tough road losses. Why take such a chance in future, especially when typically facing difficult nsic conference schedule.

All you have to do is look at Southwest Baptist in the Midwest Region to know that strength of schedule does matter. The have one of (if not the best) record in the region but the worst strength of schedule. They have been 8th, 10th and 7th in the rankings.

[Moorhead123]

All you have to do is look at Southwest Baptist in the Midwest Region to know that strength of schedule does matter. The have one of (if not the best) record in the region but the worst strength of schedule. They have been 8th, 10th and 7th in the rankings.

[NWHoops]

All this talk about the NSIC being the clearly better conference is amusing. They have the best record from games in the first month of the season so can't deny that. With Washburn healthy, I would feel very comfortable going Top 4 against Top 4. Even comparing down the entire leagues, the records from MIAA and NSIC compare favorably.

What I know for myself, is whoever comes out of this region is the favorite to win the championship (regardless of what national polls say). History has proven that not only has the champion come out of this region the last few years, but the most likely second best team has been in this region each year as well. In the years NW has won the championship, they have had closer contested games in the Regional than they did in the Elite 8.

[Peacock]

All this talk about the NSIC being the clearly better conference is amusing. They have the best record from games in the first month of the season so can't deny that. With Washburn healthy, I would feel very comfortable going Top 4 against Top 4. Even comparing down the entire leagues, the records from MIAA and NSIC compare favorably.

What I know for myself, is whoever comes out of this region is the favorite to win the championship (regardless of what national polls say). History has proven that not only has the champion come out of this region the last few years, but the most likely second best team has been in this region each year as well. In the years NW has won the championship, they have had closer contested games in the Regional than they did in the Elite 8.

I don't think it's about the better conference, this year based on data they crunch the NSIC teams have been at the top, a lot due to early wins against in region opponents. I know for instance UIU only played one out of region game this year and no one that wasn't D2. That was by design - as we've seen those are the things that matter when it comes to the regional rankings. You still have to win though! I would concur - this is by far the toughest region top to bottom of any! You know as well as anyone, if you have. a hot hand coming into conf tourney or regional tourney you got a chance (see Moorhead). Good luck this weekend, interested to see how things shake out and where everyone ends up!

[Augieholic]

All this talk about the NSIC being the clearly better conference is amusing. They have the best record from games in the first month of the season so can't deny that. With Washburn healthy, I would feel very comfortable going Top 4 against Top 4. Even comparing down the entire leagues, the records from MIAA and NSIC compare favorably.

What I know for myself, is whoever comes out of this region is the favorite to win the championship (regardless of what national polls say). History has proven that not only has the champion come out of this region the last few years, but the most likely second best team has been in this region each year as well. In the years NW has won the championship, they have had closer contested games in the Regional than they did in the Elite 8.

Don't lump us in with that one person begging for validation.

[Inkblot]

If Team A goes 2-3 against tough opponents and Team B goes 5-0 against weaker opponents, chances are Team A will be higher in the RPI and Team B will be higher in the Performance Indicator (case in point: MSU Moorhead, as of this moment, is 6th in the region in RPI and 11th in the region in PI). Regional rankings typically balance the two to some extent.