As we always say, the playoffs are a welcome opportunity for us to see where teams match up against teams from other conferences.
This year was no different, and, actually, the rankings held up well for the most part.
Not counting consolation games, the higher-ranked team was 9-4. Of the four losses one was a close win for #18 Auburn over #17 Memphis. If we include the consolation games, the rankings ended up 13-4.
The MARC gets a bit of a boost because of Georgetown's performance. The Southern gets a hit in part because UNC-Charlotte opted not to play their Sunday consolation game, the only team to do so. We don't ding them too hard because a) that would require us to drop down some other Southern teams we think don't deserve it and b) losing to Adrian is tough and several teams had injuries going into Sunday.
Thomas More's win over Marian looks less like an iffy performance by Marian and more like Thomas More is really, really good. That was tough to tell with so many forfeits and blowouts in the MCRC. Thomas More could have made it to #1 but they weren't in the toughest bracket, Adrian was. Adrian was, and won two games by over 30 points.
Do we move Northern Iowa ahead of Illinois State since UNI made the final four and ISU didn't? Not yet. We could. But Northern Iowa did lose to Illinois State in the Great Midwest final. ISU was competitive with Adrian, especially in the first half, and UNI's win over Marian was a close one. So, in the end, we list them at #4 and #5. However, UNI lost to Illinois State while lacking one of their best players. That doesn't negate the result, but at full strength, if Northern Iowa plays well in Houston, they could move past Illinois State.
We've been talking about whether Adrian should be #1 and we needed something more. Well, they beat UNC-Charlotte and Illinois State by large margins, and Norwich did superbly well, but their games were closer. Norwich did nothing wrong, but looking at the totality of it, we lean Adrian right now.
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DII Games This Weekend: Round of 16 and Beyond
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| Rank | Prev | Team | Conference | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Adrian (MI) | Great Lakes | Beat UNC-Charlotte (8), Illinois State (4) |
| 2 | 1 | Norwich (VT) | New England-Wide | Beat IUP (7), Georgetown (16) |
| 3 | 10 | Thomas More (KY) | MCRC | Beat Marquette (11), Duluth (26) |
| 4 | 4 | Illinois State (IL) | Great MW | Beat UMass-Lowell (6), Lost to Adrian (2) |
| 5 | 9 | Northern Iowa (IA) | Great MW | Beat Virginia (20), Marian (13) |
| 6 | 6 | UMass-Lowell (MA) | New England-Wide | Lost to Illinois State (4), forfeit win over UNC-C (8) |
| 7 | 13 | Marian (IN) | MCRC | Beat UNC-Wilmington (5), lost to UNI (9) |
| 8 | 16 | Georgetown (DC) | MARC | Beat Marist (14), lost to Norwich (1) |
| 9 | 7 | IUP (PA) | Allegheny | Lost to Norwich (1), beat Marist (14) |
| 10 | 5 | UNC-Wilmington (NC) | Southern | Lost to Marian (13), beat Virginia (20) |
| 11 | 26 | UM-Duluth | Northern Lights | Beat Principia (3), lost to Thomas More (10) |
| 12 | 3 | Principia (IL) | Gateway | Lost to UM-Duluth (26), beat Marquette (11) |
| 13 | 18 | Auburn (AL) | SCRC | Beat Memphis (17) |
| 14 | 11 | Marquette (WI) | Great MW | Lost to Thomas More (10), Principia (3) |
| 15 | 21 | Montana State (MT) | Rocky Mountain | |
| 16 | 12 | Furman (SC) | Southern | |
| 17 | 14 | Marist (NY) | Tri-State | Lost to Georgetown (16), IUP (7) |
| 18 | 15 | Vermont (VT) | New England-Wide | |
| 19 | 17 | Memphis (TN) | SCRC | Lost to Auburn (18) |
| 20 | 19 | Georgia Tech (GA) | SCRC | |
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| 21 | 22 | Bucknell (PA) | MARC | |
| 22 | 23 | Drexel (PA) | MARC | |
| 23 | 24 | Villanova (PA) | MARC | |
| 24 | 25 | UW-Whitewater (WI) | Great MW | |
| 25 | 27 | Central Michigan (MI) | Great Lakes | |
| 26 | 28 | Providence (RI) | New England-Wide | |
| 27 | 8 | UNC-Charlotte (NC) | Southern | Lost to Adrian (2), forfeited to UMass-Lowell (6) |
| 28 | 29 | UNC (NC) | Southern | |
| 29 | 30 | Citadel (SC) | Southern | |
| 30 | 20 | Virginia (VA) | Cardinals | Lost to UNI (9), UNCW (5) |
| 31 | 31 | SLU (MO) | Gateway | |
| 32 | 32 | Pitt State (KS) | Gateway | |
| 33 | 33 | East Carolina | Southern | |
| 34 | 34 | Boston University (MA) | New England-Wide | |
| 35 | 35 | Coast Guard (CT) | New England-Wide | |
| 36 | 36 | USMMA (NY) | Tri-State | |
| 37 | 37 | RPI (NY) | Tri-State | |
| 38 | 38 | Belmont Abbey (NC) | Southern | |
| 39 | 39 | UMS&T (MO) | Gateway | |
| 40 | 40 | UW-Platteville (WI) | Great MW | |
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