Believe it or not but the college basketball season is knocking on our door like a bunch of hungry trick or treaters. The National Association of Basketball Coaches released its Division II preseason poll on Tuesday and a couple of HBCUs gained recognition.
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Virginia State is the highest-ranked HBCU in the preseason poll at no. 16. The Trojans were 25-5 last season and the finished the season ranked no. 17, so not much change there. Morehouse, despite losing senior guard Ty Walker, is expected to contend again this season. A year after finishing 25-3 and being the last team in college basketball to lose a game last season, the Maroon Tigers come in at no. 17. They finished last season ranked tenth.
https://twitter.com/NABC1927/status/1057717831322746882
Other HBCUs receiving votes were Shaw and Claflin from the CIAA and Clark Atlanta from the SIAC.
| NABC/Division II Rankings (Oct. 30, 2018 — Pre-Season Poll) |
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| Record | Points | Last | ||
| 1. | Bellarmine, Ky. (14) | 29-3 | 398 | 4 |
| 2. | West Liberty, W.Va. (1) | 26-4 | 364 | 12 |
| 3. | Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. | 32-2 | 347 | 1 |
| 4. | West Texas A&M | 32-4 | 332 | 11 |
| 5. | Northwest Missouri State (1) | 27-4 | 277 | 5 |
| 6. | Saint Anselm. N.H. | 22-9 | 272 | NR |
| 7. | Queens, N.C. | 32-4 | 259 | 7 |
| 8. | Indiana, Pa. | 22-8 | 231 | NR |
| 9. | Cal Poly Pomona | 23-7 | 225 | 25 |
| 10. | Southern Nazarene, Okla. | 27-3 | 207 | 8 |
| 11. | Valdosta State, Ga. | 26-5 | 196 | 15 |
| 12. | West Florida | 28-4 | 195 | 9 |
| 13. | Ferris State, Mich. | 38-1 | 183 | 2 |
| 14. | Western Washington | 21-8 | 182 | NR |
| 15. | East Stroudsburg, Pa. | 27-6 | 162 | NR |
| 16. | Virginia State | 25-5 | 148 | 17 |
| 17. | Morehouse, Ga. | 25-3 | 138 | 10 |
| 18. | St. Cloud State. Minn. | 24-9 | 113 | NR |
| 19. | Regis, Colo. | 27-6 | 110 | 22 |
| 20. | Southwest Minnesota State | 25-9 | 93 | NR |
| 21. | Dallas Baptist, Texas | 26-6 | 92 | 16 |
| 22. | Florida Southern | 21-11 | 81 | NR |
| 23. | Findlay, Ohio | 28-5 | 75 | 13 |
| 24. | UC San Diego | 21-11 | 63 | NR |
| 25. | Missouri Southern | 20-10 | 58 | NR |
| Others receiving votes: Clayton State (Ga.) 40, Fairmont State (W.Va.) 38, UNC Pembroke 35, Point Loma (Calif.) 34, Saint Martin’s (Wash.) 32, Northern State (S.D.) 27, Nova Southeastern (Fla.) 19, Barry (Fla.) 18, Minnesota State 18, Texas A&M-Commerce 17, Drury (Mo.) 13, Shaw (N.C.) 13, Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 12, Dominican (N.Y.) 12, Ashland (Ohio) 11, Lees-McRae (N.C.) 13, Tarleton State (Texas) 10, Claflin (S.C.) 9, Daemen (N.Y.) 8, Fort Lewis (Colo.) 4, Merrimack (Mass.) 4, Chico State (Calif.) 3, King (Tenn.) 3, Clark Atlanta (Ga.) 2, Stanislaus State (Calif.) 2, Colorado School of Mines 1, Dixie State (Utah) 1.
Records are final from 2017-18 season. Last ranking was from the final 2017-18 poll. |
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