The Fort Hays State men’s basketball team moved up one spot to No. 8 in the latest set of NCAA Division II rankings, released on Tuesday. The Tigers benefitted from Missouri Southern’s loss this past weekend to Pittsburg State, which dropped the Lions from No. 6 to No. 14 in this week’s poll. All other teams in front of the Tigers avoided losses over the past week.
Fort Hays State’s victory at Truman was not figured into this week’s poll, as Monday games are not figured in on a weekly basis. The poll just considers games played up to the Sunday previous to the release of the poll.
Fort Hays State’s win at Truman and Wednesday’s game at Central Missouri, along with their home contest against Southwest Baptist this Saturday will be figured into the next poll to be released next Tuesday, January 10. The Top 15 match-up between FHSU and Missouri Southern on Monday, January 9 in Hays will be figured into the January 17 poll. It will be the second-straight year that the FHSU vs. Missouri Southern game in Hays will feature Top 15 ranked teams.
Fort Hays State has a very difficult road test on Wednesday at Central Missouri, which sits at 7-4 overall and 3-3 in the MIAA. The Mules are always very tough at home as the Tigers have only won once in Warrensburg since joining the MIAA in 2006-07. That win was in 2009-10, when Central Missouri was the No. 1 team in the nation and the Tigers were ranked No. 13.
The No. 8 ranking is the highest of the season so far for Fort Hays State. The Tigers and Missouri Southern are the only teams from the MIAA in the Top 25 once again this week, although Northwest Missouri State has moved back into the receiving votes section. The Bearcats’ only loss this year was to Fort Hays State in Hays on December 17. FHSU, Northwest Missouri State, and Washburn are currently tied for the MIAA lead as of Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 3).
This week’s national poll is listed below…
|
1.
|
Metropolitan State (Colo.) |
12-0
|
197
|
(5 first place votes) |
|
2.
|
Southern Indiana |
10-0
|
189
|
(1 first place vote) |
|
3.
|
Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) |
12-0
|
183
|
(1 first place vote) |
|
4.
|
Kentucky Wesleyan |
10-0
|
180
|
(1 first place vote) |
|
5.
|
Bellarmine (Ky.) |
9-1
|
170
|
|
|
6.
|
Cal Poly Pomona |
8-0
|
158
|
|
|
7.
|
West Liberty (W.Va.) |
10-1
|
153
|
|
|
8.
|
Fort Hays State (Kan.) |
9-1
|
137
|
|
|
9.
|
Tarleton State (Texas) |
10-1
|
135
|
|
|
10.
|
Winona State (Minn.) |
10-1
|
127
|
|
|
11.
|
Northern Kentucky |
10-0
|
120
|
|
|
12.
|
Colorado School of Mines |
10-1
|
104
|
|
|
13.
|
Alabama-Huntsville |
8-2
|
99
|
|
|
14.
|
Missouri Southern |
11-2
|
91
|
|
|
15.
|
Bowie State (Md.) |
8-1
|
84
|
|
|
16.
|
Midwestern State (Texas) |
11-0
|
81
|
|
|
17.
|
Findlay (Ohio) |
10-2
|
73
|
|
|
18.
|
Alaska-Anchorage |
9-2
|
64
|
|
|
19.
|
Minnesota State-Moorhead |
9-0
|
55
|
|
|
20.
|
Indiana (Pa.) |
8-2
|
29
|
|
|
21.
|
Augustana (S.D.) |
8-2
|
27
|
|
|
22.
|
Arkansas Tech |
8-2
|
26
|
|
|
23.
|
Western Washington |
12-2
|
20
|
|
|
24.
|
Benedict (S.C.) |
3-1
|
17
|
|
|
25.
|
West Georgia |
13-1
|
11
|
|
|
Others receiving votes: Georgia Southwestern 10, Southwestern Oklahoma State 9, Christian Brothers (Tenn.) 8, Clayton State (Ga.) 8, Bentley (Mass.) 8, Hillsdale (Mich.) 7, Montevallo (Ala.) 7, St. Cloud State (Minn.) 5, Northwest Missouri State 3, Humboldt State (Calif.) 2, Western Oregon 2, Franklin Pierce (N.H.) 1, West Texas A&M 1. MIAA Teams in Bold |
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