AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Augusta State climbed two spots up to No. 3 in the national rankings Tuesday in the 15th and final NABC Coaches poll of the season, according to a release from the NABC national office in Kansas City, Mo.
The Jaguars backed up their Peach Belt Conference regular-season championship last weekend by claiming the PBC Tournament title with three consecutive victories over Francis Marion, Montevallo and UNC Pembroke. The Jags have now appeared in the top 25 for a school-record 65 consecutive weeks, and have been ranked in the top 20 for 54 consecutive weeks.
The ranking marks the highest final national ranking in school history. With their No. 3 ranking, the Jags have now appeared in every national poll for four entire seasons. The Jags have cracked the top 10 in 43 of the last 49 national polls and have reached the top five 27 times over the last three-plus seasons, including 26 times in the last two-plus seasons.
At 65 weeks, ASU owns the nation's longest active streak. Only Grambling and Salem International (76), Kentucky Wesleyan (71) and Cal-State Bakersfield (66) have appeared for more consecutive weeks in the national rankings than ASU. With the ranking, the Jags matched Stephen F. Austin (65) for the fifth-longest streak in NCAA Division II history.
The Jags are the only PBC institution in the top 25 after Georgia Southwestern dropped out of the national poll two weeks ago.
West Liberty, which has spent the last eight weeks as the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II, will head into the this weekend's NCAA Tournament 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 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.
The weekly poll is conducted by eight members of the NABC Division II Congress, one representing each of the eight NCAA Division II regions.
Record | Pts. | Pvs. | |
1. West Liberty (W.Va.) Hilltoppers (8) | 29-0 | 200 | 1 |
2. Bellarmine (Ky) Knights | 27-2 | 192 | 2 |
3. AUGUSTA STATE JAGUARS | 28-3 | 184 | 5 |
4. Central Oklahoma Bronchos | 28-3 | 171 | 7 |
5. Central Washington Wildcats | 26-3 | 165 | 10 |
6. Humboldt State (Calif.) Lumberjacks | 26-3 | 155 | 3 |
7. Alabama-Huntsville Chargers | 26-4 | 153 | 4 |
8. Minnesota State Mavericks | 24-4 | 138 | 6 |
9. Missouri Southern Lions | 25-4 | 133 | 8 |
10. Lincoln Memorial (Tenn) Railsplitters | 27-2 | 128 | 12 |
11. Harding (Ark) Bisons | 25-4 | 119 | 17 |
12. Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles | 24-5 | 105 | 11 |
13. Fort Hays State (Kan) Tigers | 25-6 | 93 | 19 |
14. Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys | 24-5 | 91 | 13 |
15. Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros | 23-6 | 85 | 20 |
16. Rollins (Fla) Tars | 25-6 | 81 | 21 |
17. Tarleton State (Texas) Texans | 24-5 | 65 | 15 |
18. Mary (N.D.) Marauders | 23-5 | 61 | 14 |
19. Bowie State (Md.) Bulldogs | 22-5 | 51 | 16 |
20. Colorado School of Mines Orediggers | 22-4 | 61 | 23 |
21. Indiana (Pa.) Crimson Hawks | 24-5 | 42 | NR |
22. Bentley (Mass) Falcons | 22-7 | 33 | 22 |
23. West Texas A&M Buffs | 23-6 | 25 | t24 |
24. Benedict (S.C.) Tigers | 21-7 | 18 | t24 |
25. Wayne State (Mich) Warriors | 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
Dropped out: Findlay (9), Ferris State (23).
*Records are through games of Sunday, March 6
*This is the final poll of the 2010-11 season