KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Riding the nation's longest winning streak and having won the most consecutive conference games in the country, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team moved up to No. 2 in both national polls Tuesday afternoon. The Railsplitters, who have won 19 straight and hold an unblemished 12-0 South Atlantic Conference record, are tied for the second-most victories in the nation at 19-1.
Prior to Tuesday's top-25 polls, LMU had been ranked third in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 for four-straight weeks while ranked third in the D2SIDA Media Poll for three consecutive weeks. For the third-straight week, the Railsplitters are receiving one first-place vote in the media poll.
Tuesday marks the fourth consecutive week LMU has been ranked in the top five of both national polls. The No. 2 ranking in both the NABC Top 25 and D2SIDA Media Poll marks the highest for the Railsplitters since completing the 2017-18 season as the top team in the land.
For the seventh-straight week LMU is ranked among the top five teams in the country, marking the 48th week in program history.
Fellow SAC member Queens University of Charlotte, who the Railsplitters will face Saturday in Charlotte, North Carolina, is the only other league member ranked or receiving votes in the two national polls. The Royals (14-4, 9-3) are receiving 24 votes in the coaches poll and sit at No. 17 in the media poll.
Defending national champion Northwestern State (18-1) is the No. 1 team in both national rankings, receiving all 16 first-place votes in the NABC Top 25 and 12 first-place nods in the D2SIDA Media Poll. The remainder of the top 10 in the coaches poll is as follows: West Texas A&M (19-1) third, UC San Diego (19-1) fourth, Indiana University of Pennsylvania (17-1) fifth, Nova Southeastern (15-2) sixth, Florida Southern (17-2) seventh, Bellarmine (15-2) eighth, Azusa Pacific (15-3) ninth and St. Edward's (17-2) 10th.
The top 10 in the media poll features the same teams with the exception of Azusa Pacific, who is ranked 12th in the D2SIDA Media Poll, and Ferris State (20-3), who takes Azusa Pacific's spot in the media's top 10. UC San Diego is third in the media poll, while Indiana (Pa.) is fourth, West Tex A&M fifth, Bellarmine sixth and Florida Southern eighth. Ferris State and St. Edward's round out the D2SIDA Media Poll's top 10.
In addition to LMU and Queens, other NCAA Division II Southeast Region teams receiving votes in the national polls are UNC Pembroke, who is receiving votes in both rankings, and Lander, who is receiving three votes in the NABC Top 25.
Since Nov. 25, the Railsplitters have been ranked at the top of the D2SIDA Southeast Region Poll and continue to lead the regional rankings after receiving all six first-place votes earlier this week. Queens is ranked second in the regional poll, followed by UNC Pembroke third King University fourth, Lander fifth, Lees-McRae sixth, Catawba seventh and Lenoir-Rhyne eighth.
LMU owns six wins over teams who were either ranked or receiving votes in at least one of the two national polls when the Railsplitters defeated them. Three of those are top-25 victories with LMU ousting then 22nd-ranked Davenport (D2SIDA Media Poll) 98-48 on Nov. 2, then 12th-ranked Queens (NABC Top 25) 73-64 on Dec. 7 and then 22nd-ranked Catawba (NABC Top 25) 110-85 on Jan. 11.
The Railsplitters return to game action Wednesday night when they host local rival Carson-Newman for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off inside Tex Turner Arena. The midweek tilt is presented by Coca-Cola and DeRoyal Industries.
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