The Wayne State College men's basketball team is seventh in the latest NCAA Division II Central Region Men's Basketball Rankings released Wednesday afternoon by the NCAA national committee in Indianapolis, Indiana.  The Central Region is comprised of teams from the Great American Conference, Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
            Records listed reflect games played through Sunday, March 3^rd.   
            The Wildcats, who were ranked ninth in the initial regional rankings two weeks ago and dropped out last week,  have records of 21-9 overall and 18-9 against NCAA Division II teams in-region as of Sunday, March 3. 
            Northwest Missouri State leads the regional rankings with Northern State moving up one spot to second.  Washburn, St. Cloud State and Missouri Southern round out the top five.  Southern Nazarene remains sixth with Wayne State back in the region rankings at seventh.  Minnesota State dropped one spot eighth, Southeastern Oklahoma State moved up one notch to ninth and Sioux Falls entered the regional rankings at 10^th.   
            The top eight teams from the region advance to the NCAA Central Region Tournament March 16, 17 and 19.  Automatic bids are awarded to the winners of the three conference tournaments with the remaining five spots awarded to teams on an at-large basis. 
            Wayne State ended the regular season at 21-10 Monday evening following an 84-78 overtime loss to Southwest Minnesota State in the NSIC Sanford Health Tournament Semifinals and awaits word on a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Division II National Tournament with the NCAA selection show taking place Sunday evening, March 10^th at 9:30 p.m.   
           
NCAA Division II Central Region Men's Basketball Rankings
(records as of Sunday, March 3, 2019)
Team                                        Div. II                Div. II
                                                Overall             In-Region        
1.  Northwest Missouri State (1)  26-0                  25-0
2.  Northern State (3)                 24-6                  23-6
3.  Washburn (2)                        20-6                  19-6
4.  St. Cloud State (4)                21-8                  19-8
5.  Missouri Southern (5)            20-6                  20-6
6.  Southern Nazarene (6)          25-5                  24-5
7.  Wayne State (NR)                18-9                  18-9
8.  Minnesota State (7)               17-11                16-10
9.  Southeastern Okla. State (10)18-6                  18-6
10. Sioux Falls (NR)                   18-11                18-11     
            () denotes last week's ranking