INDIANAPOLIS, IN – The latest NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Regional Rankings are out, and for the first time in program history the Highland Cavaliers are ranked fifth in the Southeast Region.
The NCAA rankings are used by the organization to help determine who plays in the NCAA Division II Tournament, with the top eight teams in each region making the tournament after automatic bids are accounted for. In the Southeast Region, the South Atlantic Conference, the Peach Belt Conference, and Conference Carolinas all receive an automatic bid.
The team was ranked last season at ninth in the Feb. 26 poll, which marked the first time ever the program had a NCAA regional ranking. They were listed in last week's first poll of the season, which listed the top ten teams alphabetically.
Anderson is first, followed by Lenoir-Rhyne. Both are teams defeated by UVA Wise this season. Catawba is fourth, followed by the Highland Cavaliers. Carson-Newman is eighth, and LMU is tenth.
The team has a KPI of 1.93, which ranks them as 19th in Division II. KPI ranks every team's wins and losses on a positive-to-negative scale, where the worst-possible loss receives a value of roughly around -1.0 and the best-possible win receives a value of roughly 1.0. KPI then averages these scores across a season to give a score to a team's winning percentage. The formula uses opponent's winning percentage, opponent's strength of schedule, scoring margin, pace of game, location, and opponent's KPI ranking.
The Highland Cavaliers have one of the top RPIs in the country, ranking fourth in the region with an RPI of .593. Their Division II strength of schedule is 0.555
UVA Wise hosts Lincoln Memorial tonight at 7:30 p.m. in a key SAC matchup before closing out the regular season when they host Catawba Saturday at 4 p.m. The team has already clinched a berth in next week's South Atlantic Conference Tournament, where they will be making their third appearance in the past four years.
| SOUTHEAST |
|
|
|
| 1 |
Anderson (South Carolina) |
23-2 |
23-2 |
| 2 |
Lenoir-Rhyne |
22-6 |
22-4 |
| 3 |
Lander |
20-5 |
20-5 |
| 4 |
Catawba |
19-7 |
19-7 |
| 5 |
UVA Wise |
19-8 |
19-7 |
| 6 |
Columbus State |
17-7 |
17-7 |
| 7 |
North Georgia |
18-6 |
18-6 |
| 8 |
Carson Newman |
16-9 |
16-9 |
| 9 |
USC Beaufort |
19-8 |
19-8 |
| 10 |
Lincoln Memorial |
16-10 |
16-10 |
