KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Following the first two weeks of the 2019-20 season, the Lincoln Memorial University men's basketball team is ranked in both NCAA Division II top-25 polls in the first regular season release of 2019-20. The Railsplitters remain in the top-10 nationally checking in at No. 10 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Top 25 while ranked No. 12 according to the D2SIDA Media Poll, both of which were released Tuesday afternoon.
Defending national champion Northwest Missouri State stands atop both national polls owning a 43-game winning streak and off to a 5-0 start this season. The Bearcats were ranked first in the final six NABC Top 25 polls of the 2018-19 season and have led the coaches poll a total of 23 times since Dec. 13, 2016. Northwest Missouri State picked up all 16 first-place votes in the first D2SIDA Media Poll of the season.
The top three of both national polls are identical with Nova Southeastern (2-0) and soon-to-be Division I fully-fledged member Bellarmine (3-0) ranked second and third, respectively.
West Texas A&M (5-0) out of the Lone Star Conference, who LMU saw in its season opener as part of the fourth annual Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Saint Joseph, Missouri, is ranked fourth in the D2SIDA poll and fifth in the NABC Top 25. UC San Diego (3-0) is fourth in the coaches poll and rounds out the top five of the media poll.
Fellow South Atlantic Conference member Queens (4-0) is ranked sixth in both national polls, while Wingate (4-0) is receiving votes in each poll and Catawba claimed three top-25 votes in the NABC Top 25.
Currently holding a 4-1 record, the Railsplitters are ranked second in the D2SIDA Southeast Region after receiving one first-place vote in the first regular season regional poll release Monday morning. The Royals top the regional poll with five first-place nods.
Entering Tuesday night's game with Johnson University (Tenn.) at home, LMU is on a four-game win streak and has three wins by a margin of at least 30 points. The Railsplitters took down receiving-votes Davenport by 50 (98-48) in their second game at the 2019 Small College Hall of Fame Classic, routed Clayton State by 32 (87-55) at home on Nov. 8 and most recently earned a 40-point, 92-52 victory over then receiving-votes Christian Brothers this past Saturday inside Tex Turner Arena. The Blue and Gray also collected a gritty, 83-72 home win over USC Aiken a week and a half ago.
The Railsplitters begin SAC play this weekend when they travel to Wingate for a 5:30 p.m. tip inside Cuddy Arena. Next week, LMU remains on the road for a pair of league affairs at Carson-Newman Tuesday, Nov. 26 and at Coker next Saturday, Nov. 30.
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