Fort Hays State is ranked No. 1 in the first NCAA II Central Region rankings of the season, released Wednesday. The Tigers are one of five schools represented in the top 10 from the MIAA. Eight teams are selected for the regional of the NCAA Tournament at the end of the regular season.

Fort Hays State and Southeastern Oklahoma State from the Great American Conference are currently the top two teams in the region. Minnesota State-Mankato of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference starts at No. 3 in the rankings, but is only 18-4 against in-region competition.

Central Oklahoma, which currently sits atop the MIAA standings and ranked No. 7 nationally, is fourth followed by Winona State, Augustana, and Minot State, all of the NSIC. The MIAA represents the No. 8 through No. 10 spots with Missouri Western, Emporia State, and Truman. Fort Hays State is 7-0 against teams currently listed in the Top 10 of the region rankings.

Fort Hays State has eight more games remaining on its conference slate before the MIAA Tournament in Overland Park, Kan. Four of those eight games are this weekend on the road with doubleheaders at Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist.

Below are the Central Region rankings for April 17, 2013…

RANK	SCHOOL	OVERALL DII	DII IN-REGION
1	Fort Hays State	35-7	32-4
2	Southeastern Oklahoma	36-7	35-7
3	Minnesota State-Mankato	25-7	18-4
4	Central Oklahoma	33-7	30-6
5	Winona State	20-6	16-5
6	Augustana (S.D.)	22-8	15-6
7	Minot State	21-5	14-4
8	Missouri Western State	29-11	25-9
9	Emporia State	27-12	27-12
10	Truman	21-13	21-13