Washburn and Daemen are still undefeated. Alabama Huntsville just keeps winning. And Nova Southeastern looks like it is on another run to the championship game.
In short, not much changed this week in DII men’s basketball.
Typically, this time of year, the top 25 is littered with one or two-loss teams, and the few undefeated teams remaining. However, welcome to the new landscape of DII men’s basketball where there are only 15 teams remaining that have fewer than four losses. That makes the Power 10 more difficult than ever — how do you determine which losses are stronger than others when there are several four or five-loss teams in the conversation for 15 spots?
DII MEN’S BASKETBALL CENTRAL
There isn’t a clear-cut answer, but we try our best. I compile these rankings all by myself using metrics the selection committee favors come March (as I have the past two seasons, I use Inkblot Sports RPI in my rankings and now the KPI from Faktor Sports) my notes from coaches, and what I hear around the division. Since there is no voting committee or people to bounce these off of, there are disparities in the national polls and that is precisely why I started the Power 10 rankings more than half a decade ago.
The seventh Power 10 of the regular season
(games through Sunday, Feb. 9)
No. 1 Nova Southeastern | Previous: 1. Well, here we go again, defending the Sharks as No. 1 over undefeated Washburn. I understand it may not make sense, but the Sharks have all the numbers. They are No. 1 in KPI and RPI. Have scored 100-plus points in their last four wins and are first or second in DII in several very meaningful categories like scoring, assist-to-turnover ratio and steals to name a few. This team is a juggernaut and has done all this against the toughest strength of schedule in DII. Oh yeah, they have also won 75 straight home games and look very much like the host seed in the South Region right now.
No. 2 Washburn | Previous: 2. The Ichabods improved to 22-0 this past weekend with two dominant victories. While it is still unofficial, they have such a huge lead (four games with six remaining), the MIAA sure looks like it’s theirs to lose. Brayden Shorter, the Ichabods’ 6-foot-5 guard, is breaking out in his sophomore year, his first as a starter. Shorter averages 16.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, both double what he posted in his freshman campaign. He leads a talented and deep starting five.
No. 3 UAH | Previous: 3. The Chargers own the second-best RPI in DII and the third-best KPI, so Alabama Huntsville is as legit as it gets. They are now tied with Washburn (and DIII’s Wesleyan) for the longest winning streak in all college basketball at 22 games. Quite honestly, the Chargers are one basket away from being No. 1 in DII, that one-point loss to the Sharks hovering over their heads. Of their five remaining games, only two are against teams with a winning record. Already with a season sweep of Valdosta State, the GSC regular season is theirs.
No. 4 Daemen | Previous: 4. St. Thomas Aquinas was really the only tough game remaining for the Wildcats, and they won that matchup by 11 points last week. This defense is legit, now third-best in DII and just strangles the life out of opposing offenses. They have a three-game lead with five remaining but hold the tiebreaker over second-place STAC so the ECC is theirs. I just don’t see this team losing a game until the DII men’s basketball championship begins, and then who knows what happens there.
No. 5 Missouri S&T | Previous: 5. This is where it gets tricky. The Miners lost this week and don’t fall? Nuts, I know, but we are roughly three weeks from conference tournaments, and despite the loss — to a really good Upper Iowa team incidentally — their metrics still outweigh the rest of those in contention for the No. 5 spot. Add that to the fact that the Miners beat the other team I considered for this spot — West Liberty — by 11 points. This is the trickiest season in DII men’s basketball for the Power 10, and the next three or four spots show that.
No. 6 West Liberty | Previous: 7. See above. If West Liberty wins that December game against Missouri S&T, you are looking at the No. 5 team. But for now, the Hilltoppers will have to settle for No. 6. That will change no matter what the Miners do this week if West Liberty can beat NABC No. 12 Fairmont State this week and complete the season sweep of its stiffest MEC adversary. It’s odd — West Liberty is scoring 96.1 points per game, doing the normal thing the Hilltoppers do, but they don’t seem as dominant this year. Then you look at the metrics — and their seven-game winning streak — and they are.
No. 7 (tie) DBU | Previous: 10 (tie). The Patriots have won nine in a row, and that ninth win came with an exclamation point. St. Mary’s (TX) jumped into both the first five out and national rankings last week and DBU beat the Rattlers by 12 on Saturday last. The win bumped them back to the No. 1 spot in the South Central per Inkblot Sports and what helped them leapfrog Colorado School of Mines. This team is on fire.
No. 8 Colorado School of Mines | Previous: 9. Did someone say Colorado School of Mines? Here are the Orediggers, quietly creeping up the rankings, sitting at No. 2 in the South Central, and holding on to a slim one-game lead over Regis in the RMAC. The Orediggers have won four in a row and 11 of their last 12, building momentum to that all-important rematch against Regis on Feb. 20. This team has a lot of moving parts and contributors — which I think becomes an advantage come tourney time.
No. 9 Valdosta State | Previous: First five out. The Blazers have a high enough RPI that they would be the No. 2 seed in most regions — and even the No. 1 in a couple — but alas they are buried at No. 4 in the ridiculously tough South. They score a ton of points — their 93.2 per game is seventh most in DII — but the defense (or lack thereof) makes some games closer than they should be. Still, to have only three losses — two of which came to UAH — with all the parity, especially in the South, speaks volumes.
No. 10 Point Loma | Previous: 6. The Sea Lions hold tight despite the loss to Westmont. They are still the No. 1 team in the West no matter whose metrics you prefer and were previously on a 10-game winning streak until the overtime loss. However, it is important to note that Point Loma is hanging on to this spot by a thread, and another slipup could see quite a drastic fall considering how hot some of the first five out are right now.
First five out (in alphabetical order):
- Columbus State. Okay, I’ll bite on the Cougars. This squad has a better RPI and SoS than both Lenoir-Rhyne and Lincoln Memorial — two teams that have been in this conversation for months now. They have a top 10 KPI and RPI and have won eight of their last nine.
- Florida Southern. Did the Mocs pick up their fifth loss last week? Yes. Have they still played a top 25 SoS in DII, with a top 10 KPI and own a .590 RPI in the deepest region in DII this year? Also a resounding yes. Don’t let the losses fool you.
- Lake Superior State. The Lakers also dropped one this past week, but the way they fought back in the second half and almost won shows why I like this team come March. So do the metrics. The head-to-head victory over Ferris State is what keeps the Lakers in and the Bulldogs out for now.
- Lenoir-Rhyne. The Bears have won 17 of their last 19 games, but it’s those losses we need to discuss. Both came in overtime. We are seriously looking at a team that was just a few baskets away from a 19-game winning streak. This team is good.
- Lincoln Memorial. Simply watching this team tells you that the Railsplitters are really good at basketball. Wes Enis is averaging 20.1 points per game and shooting 46.1 percent from 3 while Elyjah Freeman adds 17.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game while shooting 60.5 percent from 3. They are one of the best 3-point shooting teams in DII which means they will rarely be out of a ball game.
