NABC/Division II Men's Basketball Poll - March 8, 2011

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – West Liberty, which has spent the last eight weeks as the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II, will head into the NCAA Tournament this weekend as the No. 1-ranked team in the final NABC/Division II men’s basketball rankings for the 2010-11 campaign.  The Hilltoppers, who will host the Atlantic Regional starting Saturday, completed a 29-0 regular season over the weekend by winning the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship.

Bellarmine won the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament title game in overtime and finished second in the final rankings, while Peach Belt champion Augusta State moved up to No. 3 in the final poll.  Central Oklahoma, the winner of the Lone Star Conference Tournament is fourth and Great Northwest Athletic Conference champ Central Washington is fifth in the last ranking of the year.

Humboldt State comes in at No. 6 in the final poll, while regional hosts Alabama-Huntsville (South) and Minnesota State (Central) filled the next two spots.  Missouri Southern dropped one spot to eighth after falling the MIAA’s title game and South Atlantic Conference champion Lincoln Memorial rounds out the top 10.

Gulf South Conference champion Harding begins the second 10 at No. 11, followed by Southern Indiana, MIAA champion Fort Hays State, Arkansas Tech and California Collegiate Athletic Conference champ Cal State-Dominguez Hills, who bumped off Humboldt State in the finals. The next five spots were filled by Sunshine State Conference champion Rollins, Tarleton State, Mary, Bowie State and Colorado School of Mines.

The final five spots in poll belong to Indiana (Pa.), Bentley, West Texas A&M, Benedict and Wayne State (Mich.).  Indiana and Wayne State won their respective conference tournaments over the weekend.

NABC/Division II Coaches Poll (March 8, 2011 – Final Poll)

Record Points Pvs
1. West Liberty, W.Va. (8 first place votes) 29-0 200 1
2. Bellarmine, Ky. 27-2 192 2
3. Augusta State, Ga. 28-3 184 5
4. Central Oklahoma 28-3 171 7
5. Central Washington 26-3 165 10
6. Humboldt State, Calif. 26-3 155 3
7. Alabama-Huntsville 26-4 153 4
8. Minnesota State 24-4 138 6
9. Missouri Southern 25-4 133 8
10. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. 27-2 128 12
11. Harding, Ark. 25-4 119 17
12. Southern Indiana 24-5 105 11
13. Fort Hays State, Kan. 25-6 93 19
14. Arkansas Tech 24-5 91 13
15. Cal State-Dominguez Hills 23-6 85 20
16. Rollins, Fla. 25-6 81 21
17. Tarleton State, Texas 24-5 65 15
18. Mary, N.D. 23-5 61 14
19. Bowie State, Md. 22-5 51 16
20. Colorado School of Mines 24-5 49 18
21. Indiana, Pa. 24-5 42 NR
22. Bentley, Mass. 22-7 33 22
23. West Texas A&M 23-6 25 T24
24. Benedict, S.C. 21-7 18 T24
25. Wayne State, Mich. 22-7 15 NR

Others receiving votes: Findlay (Ohio) 14, Ferris State (Mich.) 11, American International (Mass.) 6, Northern Kentucky 6, Drury (Mo.) 3, Fort Lewis (Colo.) 2, Kentucky Wesleyan 2, Metropolitan State (Colo.) 2, Georgia Southwestern 1, Stonehill (Mass.) 1.

Records are through games of Sunday, March 6, 2011.  This is the final poll of the 2010-11 season.