After picking up its sixth-straight win, Florida Southern College men’s basketball has jumped two more spots to No. 17 in the latest NABC Coaches Poll, the National Association of Basketball Coaches released on Tuesday. The Moccasins are coming off a 99-84 win over Lynn on Saturday, and have won four games by double digits during their win streak.
Southern was ranked No. 19 last week and has now been ranked in five-straight weeks after entering the poll for the first time at No. 18 in the first NABC Poll of the regular season on Nov. 19. The Mocs earned 132 points in this week’s poll, and are one of two SSC schools in the top 25. Nova Southeastern, which had risen to No. 1 last week, dropped to No. 5 after suffering its first loss of the season to unranked Rollins on Saturday.
Florida Southern (9-1) has been ranked in the NABC Coaches Poll in 218 different weeks in school history, including 17 times under head coach Mike Donnelly. The Mocs are back in action on Friday when they host Northwood (Dec. 20) before closing out the year at home against American International (Dec. 21).
For the second straight week, the top-ranked team in the NABC/Division II suffered a defeat as Rollins knocked off Nova Southeastern Saturday. As a result, Bellarmine –who spent three months as the No. 1-ranked team last season –returns to the top of the rankings.
It is the 23rd week in program history that the Knights have reached the top of the rankings. The last time three teams held the No. 1 ranking in as many weeks came two seasons ago when Northwest Missouri State (who also held the ranking first in this year’s sequence), Queens and West Liberty all held the top position over a three-week span.
With the first-semester schedule winding down – the seven-day NCAA Division II winter break begins following Sunday’s games – only six teams remain in the unbeaten ranks. All six are ranked this week with four in the top 10. One of the remaining undefeated teams, Drury, is one of the three newcomers in this week’s poll along with Valdosta State and Northeastern State.
VSU is back in the top 25 after being ranked as high as seventh earlier this year, while Northeastern State is making its first appearance in the national poll since Nov. 26, 2013. Drury’s entry into the top 25 gives the Great Lakes Valley Conference four teams in this week’s rankings, the most of any conference in Division II.
The Lone Star Conference and Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association have three teams apiece, while a total of eight conferences have at least two teams in the rankings. The longest streak of consecutive weeks in the rankings has come to a halt, as West Liberty’s loss to Charleston last Wednesday ended the Hilltoppers’ record 149-week run in the poll.
West Liberty’s last week outside the top 25 came on Jan. 26, 2010. The mantle of the longest active streak now belongs to Bellarmine, who has been ranked for 84 straight weeks –the third-longest run ever.
Prior to the break, only one game will match up top 25 teams, No. 21 Dominican faces off against No. 5 Nova Southeastern Saturday. Another game of note has No. 10 Dallas Baptist hosting Texas A&M-Commerce on Thursday; the Lions have knocked off two ranked teams during their current four-game winning streak.
| RANK | TEAM (1st-Place Votes) | RECORD | POINTS | LAST WEEK |
| 1 | Bellarmine (15) | 6-0 | 398 | 2 |
| 2 | Northwest Missouri State (1) | 8-1 | 379 | 4 |
| 3 | Indiana (Pa.) | 8-0 | 365 | 5 |
| 4 | Lincoln Memorial | 10-1 | 332 | 7 |
| 5 | Nova Southeastern | 6-1 | 313 | 1 |
| 6 | Dixie State | 10-0 | 305 | 9 |
| 7 | West Texas A&M | 10-1 | 288 | 3 |
| 8 | UC San Diego | 8-1 | 285 | 10 |
| 9 | St. Edward’s (TX) | 9-1 | 269 | 12 |
| 10 | Dallas Baptist | 9-0 | 244 | 13 |
| 11 | Missouri Southern | 7-1 | 235 | 11 |
| 12 | Alabama Huntsville | 8-1 | 195 | 6 |
| 13 | Ferris State | 13-1 | 191 | 17 |
| 14 | West Chester | 9-0 | 179 | 18 |
| 15 | Indianapolis | 7-1 | 162 | 15 |
| 16 | Southern Indiana | 6-1 | 159 | 16 |
| 17 | Florida Southern | 9-1 | 132 | 19 |
| 18 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 10-1 | 120 | 24 |
| 19 | Daemen | 11-2 | 109 | 8 |
| 20 | Queens (N.C.) | 7-2 | 101 | 20 |
| 21 | Southeastern Oklahoma State | 5-1 | 95 | 14 |
| 22 | Valdosta State | 7-2 | 62 | NR |
| 23 | Dominican (N.Y.) | 8-1 | 58 | 25 |
| 24 | Northeastern State | 9-1 | 39 | NR |
| 25 | Drury | 7-0 | 26 | NR |
2019-20 opponents in BOLD ITALICS
Others receiving votes: Grand Valley State 23, Cal Poly Pomona 21, Saint Anselm 20, West Liberty 18, Ashland 11, Point Loma 10, Angelo State 9, Alaska Anchorage 8, Bentley 7, Belmont Abbey 6, Augustana 5, Jefferson 5, East Central 4, Minnesota Duluth 4, Southern Nazarene 4, Chico State 2, Embry-Riddle 2.
Dropped out: Augustana (21), West Liberty (22), Pace (23).