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Men D2 College Rankings 2021 Week 12

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Men D2 College Rankings 2021 Week 12

Adrian College to #1?

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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The D2 Bracket by the Numbers

DII Games This Weekend: Round of 16 and Beyond

DII Round of 16 Wrapup

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  
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