INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The second NCAA Men's Basketball Regional Rankings were released on Wednesday afternoon and No. 24 Concordia-St. Paul was ranked second out of the top 10 teams in the central region.
CSP, Southwest Minnesota State, MSU Moorhead, Winona State, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State, Minot State and St. Cloud State each represented the NSIC in the second of the three rankings, taking up eight of the 10 total spots. Washburn (MIAA) and Southern Nazarene (GAC) are the only non-NSIC schools in this week's rankings.
The
NSIC, the
Mid-America Athletic Association (MIAA) and the
Great American Conference (GAC) make up the 41-team NCAA Central Region. The top eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA region tournament on March 14-17 with the highest seed serving as the host. Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the MIAA, GAC and NSIC postseason tournaments, with the remaining five spots awarded on an at-large basis.
The Golden Bears will play the winner of the Sioux Falls vs. Minot State first-round game in the quarterfinals of the NSIC Tournament on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
The NCAA men's basketball selection show will be streamed online on March 9 at 9:30 p.m. (CT) on NCAA.com.
The Elite Eight, Final Four, and Division II National Championship games will take place from March 25-29 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.
NCAA Central Region Rankings
| Rank |
School (Conf) |
In-Reg |
DII-Rec |
| 1. |
Washburn (MIAA) |
22-2 |
20-2 |
| 2. |
Concordia-St. Paul (NSIC) |
21-7 |
21-7 |
| 3. |
Southwest Minnesota State (NSIC) |
21-7 |
21-7 |
| 4. |
MSU Moorhead |
20-8 |
18-8 |
| 5. |
Winona State (NSIC) |
18-9 |
18-9 |
| 6. |
Minnesota Duluth (NSIC) |
20-8 |
20-8 |
| 7. |
Minnesota State (NSIC) |
18-11 |
18-11 |
| 8. |
Minot State (NSIC) |
20-8 |
20-8 |
| 9. |
Southern Nazarene (GAC) |
18-6 |
18-6 |
| 10. |
St. Cloud State |
18-11 |
17-11 |
