KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Although the unbeaten and No. 1-ranked West Liberty University men’s basketball team didn’t take the court at all last week, Coach Jim Crutchfield’s high-flying Hilltoppers still managed to lengthen their lead over the rest of the pack in this week’s NCAA Division II national coaches’ poll.
West Liberty picked up another first-place vote from the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ NCAA Division II rankings panel and solidified its season-long hold on the No. 1 spot with 13 of the 16 first-place votes from the committee.
There was more than a little reshuffling among the Hilltoppers’ closest pursuers, however, as Washburn, Kan. and Southern Indiana suffered their first losses of the season and dropped out of the top 10.
Metro State, Colo. (8-0) is the new No. 2 team after Washburn’s loss with Alabama-Huntsville (7-1), Bellarmine, Ky. (8-0) and defending national champion Western Washington (7-0) rounding out the top five. Metro State, Alabama-Huntsville and Bellarmine each received one of the three remaining first-place vote.
Cal Poly-Pomona (8-0) was No. 6, followed by Seattle Pacific (8-1), Washburn (7-1), Kentucky Wesleyan (6-0) and Franklin Pierce, N.H. (7-1). Tuesday’s poll reflects games played through Sunday.
The Hilltoppers (9-0), who returned to action on Monday with a 143-77 rout of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez after taking last week off for semester exams, have now appeared in 44 consecutive NABC Top 25 polls. That’s the longest run in the national rankings by a WVIAC team since former league member Salem was ranked for an NCAA Division II record 76 consecutive weeks from 1997 to 2003.
Now leading the nation in scoring at a blistering 115.1 ppg., West Liberty remains the only conference team in the Top 25 but Shepherd (6-1) was listed among teams also receiving votes for the second consecutive week. The Hilltoppers were scheduled to wrap up their Puerto Rico trip on Tuesday night with a game against host Puerto Rico-Bayamon.
This was the final NABC Top 25 for the first semester. The next NCAA Division II coaches’ poll will be released on Jan. 8, 2013.
NABC DIVISION II TOP 25 Men’s Basketball
(Through games of Sunday, Dec. 16)
Team (FPV) Rec Pts Pvs
1. WEST LIBERTY (13) 8-0 395 1
2. Metro State, Colo. (1) 9-0 378 3
3. Alabama-Huntsville (1) 7-1 364 4
4. Bellarmine, Ky. (1) 8-0 352 5
5. Western Washington 7-0 344 6
6. Cal Poly-Pomona 8-0 325 8
7. Seattle Pacific, Wash. 8-1 298 9
8. Washburn, Kan. 7-1 266 2
9. Kentucky Wesleyan 6-0 257 13
10. Franklin Pierce, N.H. 7-1 244 12
11. Indianapolis, Ind. 7-0 239 14
12. Augusta State, Ga. 5-0 229 15
13. Assumption, Mass. 8-0 183 17
14. Drury, Mo. 7-0 172 19
15. Barton, N.C. 7-1 156 16
16. Indiana, Pa. 6-1 148 18
17. Southern Indiana 6-1 142 7
18. Newman, Kan. 9-0 121 NR
19. St. Cloud State, Minn. 7-1 109 11
20. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. 7-1 95 20
21. Minnesota State 8-1 85 21
22. Tampa, Fla. 8-0 81 22
23. Winston-Salem State, N.C. 7-2 52 23
24. Findlay, Ohio 6-2 36 24
25. Alaska-Anchorage 8-2 33 25
Others receiving votes: Adams State (Colo.) 31, Florida Southern 22, Cal State-San Bernardino 8, West Texas A&M 6, Fort Lewis (Colo.) 4, Grand Canyon (Ariz.) 4, Michigan Tech 4, NW Missouri State 4, North Alabama 3, Augustana (S.D.) 2, Harding (Ark.) 2, Minnesota State-Moorhead 2, SHEPHERD 2, Rollins (Fla.) 1, Winona State (Minn.) 1.
