WONDER BOYS RANKED 10TH IN LATEST NCAA DIVISION II
SOUTH REGION RANKINGS

        INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – The NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Committee has released this week’s fifth Division II men’s basketball regional rankings for the 2008-09 season. The rankings list the Top 10 teams in the each of the eight NCAA Division II regions.

Tech, who is 18-7 overall, 8-4 in the GSC West Division and 13-7 in the South Region, is ranked 10th in this week’s poll after posting two consecutive victories last week. The Wonder Boys opened the week with an 85-59 win last Thursday at Ouachita Baptist, before posting an 86-81 double overtime home win last Saturday over Delta State. Tech is one of six Gulf South Conference schools ranked in the second to last regional poll of the season.

At the end of the season, the top eight teams from each region will receive bids to the 64-team NCAA D-II Tournament. To be considered for selection into the national tournament, each team must play at least 16 games against teams within its region or against Division II schools in contiguous states. The regional rankings will be released every Wednesday through March 4. The top team in each region will have an opportunity to host the first two rounds of the 64-team National Championship Tournament. Only games played against NCAA D-II institutions are considered by the committee.

Other GSC teams in this week’s South Region ranking are Christian Brothers (17-3 D-II, 17-3 Region) at No. 2, Delta State (15-6 D-II, 15-5 Region) at No. 5, Arkansas-Monticello (13-7 D-II, 12-7 Region) at No. 6, Valdosta State (18-5 D-II, 18-5 Region) and North Alabama (13-8 D-II, 12-7 Region). Tech will face Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday in Russellville and then will play at Christian Brothers to close out the regular season on Saturday.

Claflin, who is the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), headlines this week’s fifth South Region poll as they are 21-2 in Division II games and 21-2 in South Region games, while Benedict, who is also from the SIAC, is ranked third as they are 22-4 in D-II games and is 22-4 in the South Region. Two Sunshine State Conference teams are also in this week’s rankings – Florida Southern (21-5 D-II, 18-4 South Region) is at No. 4 and Rollins (15-8 D-II, 14-7 South Region) is at No. 7.

The Wonder Boys will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 26, when they conclude the home portion of its schedule by hosting Arkansas-Monticello on Senior Night at Tucker Coliseum. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. and will mark the final home game for Tech’s three seniors – center Thiago Cordeiro (Recife, Brazil), guard Chad Henderson (Memphis, Tenn.) and forward Troy Marcus (Bronx, NY) and junior guard John Clark (Marmaduke, Ark.).

          Complete NCAA Division II Regional Rankings

 -- Tech Athletics --