Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams struggle to gain respect when it comes to their standing against the Lone Star Conference.
After a week that saw several teams in the top of the NCAA Division II South Central Region poll win and lose big games, Fort Lewis moved down to No. 6 in the regional rankings. Tarleton State, despite losing to Texas A&M Commerce, remained the top team in the region and has a strong chance of staying in the top spot and hosting the regional bracket of the NCAA tournament.
The top eight teams in the third and final regional rankings will advance to postseason play. No team from the Heartland Conference is currently in the top eight, but the winner of that conference will earn an automatic spot. FLC will need to stay at least in the top seven in the next two weeks to earn a trip back to the NCAA tournament.
FLC (23-4, 18-3 RMAC) is 18-4 overall in the region and has only one loss to teams outside the region’s top-10 teams, the fewest of any team currently in the poll.
Colorado School of Mines, which beat FLC in overtime Friday in Durango, remained second in the regional rankings. FLC has one game left in the regular season, a tough matchup Friday night at Westminster in Salt Lake City, while Colorado Mines will host UC-Colorado Springs and Metro State to close out the regular season.
FLC and Mines are tied in the loss column atop the RMAC standings, but the Orediggers have the tiebreaker after the win Friday and would host the RMAC Shootout tournament if they win both games this weekend.
Ahead of FLC in the regional rankings and behind Colorado Mines are Texas-Permian Basin, West Texas A&M and Texas A&M Commerce.
RMAC teams Colorado State University-Pueblo and Regis are currently seventh and eighth.
Fresh off their 20th win of the season Tuesday night, the Fort Lewis women remained ninth in the regional rankings. It is the first 20-win season for FLC since 2011-12, when it reached the second round of the NCAA tournament.
With an 18-6 record in the region, FLC is right behind Regis and UC-Colorado Springs in the regional standings. FLC is ahead of Regis in the conference standings and a half game behind UC-Colorado Springs.
Fifth-ranked CSU-Pueblo (25-1, 19-1 RMAC) is ranked first in the region and has a strong chance of hosting the regional round of the NCAA tournament after the RMAC Shootout.
Ahead of the logjam of RMAC schools on the back end of the regional rankings are Eastern New Mexico, Angelo State, West Texas A&M, St. Mary’s (Texas) and Texas A&M Commerce.
Wednesday’s release was the second of three regional rankings. It’s not where teams start but where they finish that counts. With two weeks of basketball to play, a lot can change before selection Sunday.
