College Basketball News – Guilford Ranked in Both Men’s & Women’s South Region Polls

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College’s men’s and women’s basketball teams are both ranked in the initial NCAA Division III South Region Polls of the season released Wednesday. The Quakers’ men sit fourth among eight teams and the women are eighth of nine squads. Guilford is one of four schools with teams ranked in both polls.

The rankings are compiled by regional coaches’ committees and released on each of the first three Wednesdays in February. The polls help determine at-large selections and host institutions for the NCAA Division III playoffs. The next polls will be released February 13 at www.ncaa.com.

Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) teams occupy four of the top-eight spots in the men’s rankings, including top-rated Randolph-Macon College, which lost at Guilford January 5, 64-63. The University of Lynchburg, which has two ODAC losses to Guilford this year, is sixth. Quakers’ league-rival and February 13 opponent Emory & Henry College stands seventh.

Coach Tom Palombo’s Quakers took a 16-5 overall record (10-2 ODAC) and a six-game winning streak into Wednesday night’s ODAC game at Roanoke College. Guilford plays at Bridgewater College Saturday (2/9) before returning home to host Emory & Henry next Wednesday.

Texas teams fill four of the women’s poll’s top-five spots and five places overall. The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor owns the top spot, followed by Emory & Henry, which lost at Guilford by 20 points in January. Oglethorpe University, a 47-42 winner over the visiting Quakers in December, is ranked seventh.

Coach Stephanie Flamini’s Quakers carried a 16-5 record (13-2 ODAC) and a five-game winning streak into Wednesday’s league contest at Randolph College. Guilford hosts Bridgewater Saturday (2/9) at 2:00 p.m. in the Quakers’ annual Play 4 Kay Game, played for the benefit of cancer awareness.

2019 NCAA Division III South Region Men’s Basketball Poll (with in-division and overall records) (through games of Feb. 5)
1. Randolph-Macon (20-2, 20-2)
2. Centre (17-3, 19-3)
3. Emory (16-4, 16-4)
4. Guilford (16-5, 16-5)
5. Mary Hardin-Baylor (17-5, 17-5)
6. Lynchburg (17-5, 17-5)
7. Emory & Henry (15-6, 15-6)
8. Texas-Dallas (16-4, 17-4)

2019 NCAA Division III South Region Women’s Basketball Poll (with in-division and overall records) (through games of Feb. 5)
1. Mary Hardin Baylor (20-2, 19-2)
2. Emory & Henry (18-3, 18-3)
3. Austin (16-4, 17-4)
4. Texas-Dallas (17-4, 17-4)
5. Trinity (Texas) (16-4, 18-4)
6. Millsaps (18-4, 18-4)
7. Oglethorpe (17-5, 17-5)
8. Guilford (16-5, 16-5)
9. East Texas Baptist (18-2, 19-2)