WICHITA FALLS, Texas - The air of excitement around Midwestern State basketball is growing as the Mustangs are a part of another preseason national poll.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches/Division II ranking does give MSU an early No. 20 ranking, but its message in between the lines just might have Mustangs fans up in arms.
According to the poll which is topped by defending national champion Cal Poly Pomona, Midwestern is 17 spots off of its No. 3 final ranking in 2009-10 and is no better than the fourth-best team in the South Central Region.
The top honor belongs to MSU rival and LSC bridesmaid Tarleton State who checks in at No. 11. The Mustangs toppled the Texans four times last season including a regular season sweep and wins in the Lone Star Conference title game and NCAA South Central Regional.
The region runner-up Mules of Central Missouri are 16th while Central Oklahoma in its final season in the LSC is 18th.
Midwestern returns two starters and five letter winners off of last season's squad led by 2010 Sporting News Preseason honorable mention All-American
Chris Hagan, who averaged 14.1 points and four assists last season and senior forward
Charlie Logan who set a school record with 51 dunks last season.
The Mustangs open exhibition play Thursday night at Baylor as the Bears open the season ranked No. 14 in the ESPN/USA Today Preseason Poll before taking on No. 8 Purdue next Tuesday in West Lafayette, Ind.
MSU opens the season against Fort Hays State (Kan.) and Emporia State (Kan.) on Nov. 12-13 at the South Central Region Challenge in Bartlesville, Okla.
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NABC/Division II Coaches Poll
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|
Preseason
|
| Rank |
School |
2010 |
Points |
Previous |
| 1 |
Cal Poly Pomona (6) |
28-6 |
198 |
NR |
| 2 |
Indiana (Pa.) |
33-3 |
175 |
2 |
| 3 |
Findlay (Ohio) (2) |
23-7 |
170 |
NR |
| 4 |
Bellarmine (Ky.) |
23-9 |
168 |
19 |
| 5 |
Grand Valley State (Mich.) |
22-9 |
148 |
NR |
| 6 |
Florida Southern |
25-5 |
143 |
13 |
| 7 |
Bentley (Mass.) |
26-7 |
139 |
NR |
| 8 |
St. Cloud State (Minn.) |
29-6 |
121 |
16 |
| 9 |
Winona State (Minn.) |
20-10 |
120 |
NR |
| 10 |
Seattle Pacific (Wash.) |
22-6 |
113 |
18 |
| 11 |
Tarleton State (Texas) |
24-8 |
106 |
NR |
| 12 |
West Liberty (W. Va.) |
29-3 |
94 |
10 |
| 13 |
Arkansas Tech |
30-2 |
89 |
1 |
| 14 |
South Carolina-Aiken |
20-11 |
80 |
NR |
| 15 |
Metro State (Colo.) |
23-7 |
77 |
21 |
| 16 |
Central Missouri |
27-4 |
74 |
7 |
| 17 |
Rollins (Fla.) |
27-6 |
67 |
11 |
| 18 |
Central Oklahoma |
22-7 |
62 |
NR |
| 19 |
Saint Joseph's (Ind.) |
20-12 |
53 |
NR |
| 20 |
Midwestern State (Texas) |
31-3 |
48 |
3 |
| 21 |
Alabama-Huntsville |
23-7 |
44 |
NR |
| 22 |
Merrimack (Mass.) |
21-9 |
39 |
NR |
| 23 |
Philadelphia (Pa.) |
27-8 |
33 |
NR |
| 24 |
Montevallo (Ala.) |
25-8 |
25 |
NR |
| 25 |
Clark Atlanta (Ga.) |
24-7 |
23 |
22 |
| Others Receving Votes: Drury (Mo.) 22; Anderson (S.C) 21; Fort Hays State (Kan.) 20; BYU-Hawaii 17; Kentucky Wesleyan 17; Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) 16; Winston Salem (N.C.) 15; Virginia Union 14; Mount Olive (N.C.) 9; Minnesota State-Mankato 8; Augusta State (Ga.) 7; West Virginia State 5; Kutztown (Pa.) 4; Valdosta State (Ga.) 4; Cal State-San Bernardino 3; Augustana (S.D.) 2; Central State (Ohio) 2; Central Washington 2; Adelphi (N.Y.) 1; Nebraska-Omaha 1. |
-- MSUMustangs.com --
