NEW CASTLE, Del. - The West Liberty University men's basketball team team has been ranked 7th in the preseason edition of the Division II Sports Information Directors Association National Media Poll.
On the heels of a sweep of Mountain East Conference trophies- and a 29-3 overall record, the Hilltoppers earned 218 points in the ranking. Northwest Missouri State took 12 of the 13 first place votes and 324 points to be placed at the top. Augusta was awarded the other first place vote and comes into the season ranked second with 303 total points.
In a recap of preseason polls, nationally West Liberty is 8th in the NABC Coaches poll in addition to this 7th place honor by the media and a 9th place recognition in NCAA.com's preseason power rankings. Regionally, the Black and Gold are ranked second by D2SIDA in the Atlantic Region, then the Mountain East Conference coaches have put WLU atop their respective preseason poll for the fifth straight year.
The Hilltoppers are officially back in game-week mode and get their season started this weekend as they host the Atlantic Region Crossover inside the ASRC. West Liberty gets the event underway on Friday at 5:30 pm versus Shepherd and then takes on California (Pa.) in Saturday's night cap at 8 pm.