The new year brought No. New 1 to DII men’s basketball’s Power 10 rankings

A new year is just around the corner, and so are DII’s new men’s basketball Power 10 rankings. Only a handful of games have been played since the last Power 10, but it was enough to propel the new team to No. 1. 1. With Nova Southeasterns’ two big wins last week, the Sharks are the No. 1 team. Strength 10 ranks.

POWER PREPARATION 10: Take a look back at the previous Power 10

Indiana (PA), Northwest Missouri State, and Black Hills State remained behind. Let’s see how the first ranking of the new year unfolds.

The regular season third DII men’s basketball Power 10 ranking

(Note: Game until January 2nd)

No.1 Nova Southeast | Previous: 2: The Sharks open the second half against two very good teams in Florida Tech and nationally ranked Florida Southern, two teams with a combined 20-6 record so far. They answered the test, winning both in very dominant fashion to improve to 12-0. The Sharks lead DII in scoring (107.2), margin of victory (29.3), and forced turnovers per game (25.4) all while playing a top 50 schedule in DII men’s basketball. Oh, and RJ Sunahara just might be the player of the year.

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No.2 Indiana (PA) | Previous: 1: The Crimson Hawks through no fault of their own. Still a perfect 11-0, they just haven’t played the schedule Nova Southeastern has, and are missing out on a spot this week. Make no mistake, this is one of the most dangerous teams in the country, and it all starts with defense. IUP allowed just 57.6 points per game (second-fewest in DII men’s basketball) with DII’s best field goal percentage defense of 35.2 percent. The team has a lot of scorers and shoots the ball well and should dominate PSAC in the second half of the season.

No. 3 Northwest Missouri State | Previous: 3: The Bearcats dropped a game to Emporia State to close out the pre-holiday roster and have recovered with three big wins. Diego Bernard, who missed the loss, came back and became the leader of this team. He is the Bearcats leader in points per game, rebounds per game, and total assists, but there are plenty of Bearcats to come in. As usual, the Bearcats have been able to dictate the tempo in their wins, outscoring opponents by nearly 20 points per game and shooting DII’s best 54.6 percent.

No.4 Black Hills State | Previous: 4: The Yellow Jackets continue to tick the big box towards the No. 1 seed. 1 in March. Coming out of the break, they faced Adams State and clashed with nationally ranked Fort Lewis on the back-to-back schedule night. Even though the Fort Lewis game was postponed, they still look perfect this season. BHSU is 12-0 against the 34th toughest schedule, scoring and shooting excellently, and has one of the best in the country in Joel Scott, who has posted nightly averages of 21.3/9.6 so far.

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No.5 Liberty West | Previous: 7: Even though the No. team 6 still unbeaten, the Hilltoppers were able to jump into the top 5 thanks to an 11-1 start against one of the toughest schedules in DII men’s basketball so far. They have taken win after win against opponents combined 0.607 win percentage and that is impressive. West Liberty scored goals as usual, averaging 99.0 points per game and Bryce Butler continued to impress, averaging 23.8 points per game on an impressive 61.3 percent shooting and a team-high 6.8 rebounds. per game.

No. 6 Missouri-St. Louis | Previous: 6: The UMSL came out of the break with a tough test against one of my surprise first round teams, Wisconsin-Parkside. The Tritons went on to win in explosive fashion, dominating in an 83-61 victory. Now 12-0, the team has an impressive balance, scoring 78 points per game on 52.2% shooting, a top 10 in DII men’s basketball. Already with several signature wins on their resume, the Tritons resume GLVC play on Jan. 5 ready to chase the top seed in March.

Lincoln Memorial No.7 | Previous: 8: The Railsplitters continued to put their early-season loss to the nationally ranked UAH in the rearview mirror, now a 12-straight winner. Sitting at 13-1, this team is slicing opponents, scoring 90.6 points per game and beating the team by 20.1 over night. Seven players score at least 9.3 points per game, so it’s unlikely to take a single player out of the game, with someone very capable ready to step up. They also shot 52.8% as a team, so, like Nova Southeastern and West Liberty, this team loves to score.

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No. 8 Augusta | Previous: 9: The defending national runners-up have played very well since the hiccup against a very good Virginia Union team. Winners of six in a row, the Jaguars are doing just enough to win the ball game as the heart of PBC’s game draws near. With Tyshaun Crawford and Miguel Arnold leading the way, it will be difficult to dominate this team, keeping the Jaguars within striking distance for the rest of the way. The Southeast should be particularly interesting with the Lincoln Memorial and Augusta looming in March.

Number 9 Oklahoma Central | Previous: 10 (draw): The Bronchos came out of the break with three big wins, closing with an 80-58 win over nationally ranked Emporia State. They are now 13-1 against a top 20 power schedule and tied atop the MIAA going into the heart of conference play. With one of the best defenses in the division, the Bronchos are being boosted by a bevy of scorers, led by Jaden Wells who scores nearly 20 points per game.

No. 10 Hillsdale, Colorado School of Mines| Before: 5, 10 (draw) respectively: Hillsdale took a slight hit after opening the second round with a shock loss to Lake Erie. The Orediggers are back on track after their early December loss to Black Hills State in overtime. Both of these teams are very talented; they find themselves this low (imagine thinking No. 10 low) because of metrics like schedule strength.

First five out (in alphabetical order):

• Bentleys: The Falcons have won eight in a row and came out of the break with an 11-point win.
• State of Cal San Bernardino: The Coyotes are starting to break away from the CCAA pack, and a win over Cal State San Marcos on January 5 could propel them into the Power 10.
• Fort Lewis: Skyhawks 11-1, impressive start. It would have been great to see how they handle Black Hills State, but it’s been temporarily suspended. With DII’s top scorer in Akuel Kot, this is a team to watch out for.
• Pembroke UNC: The Braves returned from the break, picking up a massive non-conference win over Columbus State. They are now back in Conference Carolinas play where at 4-1, they look set to lead a very congested conference in the top flight.
• West Virginia State: The team coasted from a sweep in the YES US Virgin Islands Classic. Already with a two-point win over nationally ranked Fairmont State and taking West Liberty to the wire in a one-scoring loss on their resume, the team is off to a very strong start.

Team to watch: Northern State I got the Wolves to preseason Power 10 recognition and opening the season against Northwest Missouri State didn’t do them any favors. However, Wolves got back on track, winning four in a row, including a closely fought victory over rivals NSIC and nationally ranked Minnesota Duluth on New Year’s Eve. The team is 10-3 against the 10th toughest schedule in DII men’s basketball and could begin their climb to the national rankings this week.