FHSU Athletics
The Fort Hays State men's basketball moved up four more spots in the most recent NABC Top 25 Poll, released on Tuesday. The Tigers are up to No. 14 in the national rankings, and have jumped back into the D2CSC Top 25 Poll at No. 25. It is the highest ranking for the Tigers in the NABC Top 25 since the 2011-12 season, when they reached No. 8 in the nation.\
The Tigers are now 20-5 overall on the season after a pair of wins on the road at Lincoln and Central Missouri last week. With the win at Central Missouri, Fort Hays State has now won at least 20 games in a season 12 times under head coach Mark Johnson, accomplishing the feat for a third-straight season.
This is the 112th time the Tigers have been ranked in the NABC Top 25 during their NCAA Division II history. They are 186-47 all-time when holding an NABC ranking.
This is the fifth time overall and second time this season the Tigers have held a ranking in the D2CSC Top 25, a poll that began in 2014-15. FHSU was No. 16 in the D2CSC Poll early this year after a 2-0 start to the season and has been lurking in the receiving votes section for several releases prior to the February 20 release.
Fort Hays State and Northwest Missouri State (No. 7 in both polls) represent the MIAA in both top 25 polls. The Bearcats moved up four spots in both the NABC and D2CSC polls this week.
The Central Region continues to have the most teams in the NABC Top 25 with six. The group includes Minnesota State (No. 4), Northwest Missouri State (No. 7), Minnesota Duluth (No. 12), MSU Moorhead (No. 13), Fort Hays State (No. 14), and Minot State (No. 24). The South Central Region has five teams in the Top 25, which includes four teams in the top 10, headed by No. 1 ranked West Texas A&M.
Fort Hays State hosts Pittsburg State (Thur.) and Missouri Southern (Sat.) this week. FHSU lost to Pittsburg State on the road earlier this season, but defeated Missouri Southern in Joplin.
NABC Top 25 Poll - February 20, 2024
Rank - Team - Record - Points - Prev
1 - West Texas A&M (16) - 24-1 400 - 1
2 - Nova Southeastern, Fla. - 20-2 - 383 2
3 - Fort Lewis, Colo. - 22-2 - 366 - 3
4 - Minnesota State - 24-2 - 350 - 5
5 - Gannon, Pa. - 23-2 - 315 - 7
6 - Colorado Mesa - 21-3 - 314 - 9
7 - Northwest Missouri State - 21-4 - 297 - 11
8 - Dallas Baptist, Texas - 21-3 - 270 - 4
9 - California, Pa. - 21-3 - 260 - 14
10 - West Georgia - 21-3 - 239 - 6
11 - Charleston, W.Va. - 20-3 - 223 - 16
12 - Minnesota Duluth - 22-5 - 204 - 17
13 - MSU Moorhead, Minn. - 22-3 - 200 - 8
14 - Fort Hays State, Kan. - 20-5 - 182 - 18
15 - East Stroudsburg, Pa. - 21-3 - 178 - 10
16 - North Georgia - 20-4 - 164 - 12
17 - Saint Martin's, Wash. - 20-4 - 148 -13
18 - Cal State Dominguez Hills - 21-4 - 144 - 22
19 - Lander, S.C. - 19-5 - 83 - 19
20 - West Liberty, W.Va. - 19-5 - 66 - NR
21 - Colorado School of Mines - 20-6 - 47 - 21
22 - Benedict, S.C. - 19-5 - 41 - 20
23 - St. Thomas Aquinas, N.Y. - 20-5 - 39 - 15
24 - Minot State, N.D. - 19-7 - 37 - 23
25 - UNC Pembroke, N.C. - 19-5 - 34 - NR
Receiving Votes: USC Aiken (S.C.) 30, Concord (W.Va.) 24, Northern Michigan 20, Clark Atlanta (Ga.) 15, Cal State San Bernardino 13, Indianapolis (Ind.) 12, Emmanuel (Ga.) 11, Montana State Billings 10, Florida Southern 9, Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) 9, Lubbock Christian (Texas) 8, Kentucky Wesleyan 7, Ferris State (Mich.) 3, Millersville (Pa.) 3, Saint Michael's (Vt.) 3, Bentley (Mass.) 2, Lee (Tenn.) 2, Washburn (Kan.) 2, Lake Superior State (Mich.) 1.
D2CSC Top 25 Poll - February 20, 2024
Rank - Team - Points - Record - Prev
1 - West Texas A&M (10) - 384 - 24-1 - 1
2 - Minnesota State (3) - 374 - 24-2 - 2
3 - Nova Southeastern (3) - 369 - 20-2 - 3
4 - Gannon - 338 - 23-2 - 4
5 - Fort Lewis - 281 - 22-2 - T12
6 - West Georgia - 271 - 21-3 - 6
7 - Northwest Missouri State - 269 - 21-4 - 11
8 - Dallas Baptist - 262 - 21-3 - 5
9 - MSU Moorhead - 244 - 22-4 - 9
10 - North Georgia - 227 - 20-4 - 10
11 - Charleston (W.Va.) - 218 - 20-3 - 17
12 - Cal State Dominguez Hills - 205 - 21-4 - 19
13 - Colorado Mesa - 193 - 21-3 - 14
14 - California (Pa.) - 191 - 21-3 - 18
15 - East Stroudsburg - 177 - 21-3 - 7
16 - St. Thomas Aquinas - 164 - 20-5 - T12
17 - Saint Martin's - 145 - 20-4 - 8
18 - Lander - 144 - 19-5 - 15
19 - Northern Michigan - 127 - 19-7 - 16
20 - Minnesota Duluth - 100 - 22-5 - T24
21 - Florida Southern - 68 - 19-7 - 22
22 - Colorado School of Mines - 57 - 20-6 - 20
23 - Saint Michael's - 48 - 19-6 - 21
24 - Emmanuel - 45 - 21-5 - RV
25 - Fort Hays State - 40 - 20-5 - RV
Receiving Votes: Lake Superior State – 38; Montana State Billings – 34; Chico State – 21; Concord – 21; Indianapolis – 16; Millersville – 15; UNC Pembroke – 12; West Liberty – 11; Cal State San Bernardino – 10