REGIONAL RANKINGS REVIEW--MEN

With the final weekend of the 2007-08 NCAA Division II regular season fast approaching, how do the men's teams stack up in terms of who will advance to postseason play? Let's read on to find the answers in this installment of the "Regional Rankings Review".

South Region
1.
North Alabama
19-7
18-4

2.
Florida Southern
21-6
18-5

3.
Benedict
20-4
20-4

4.
Tampa
16-7
14-5

5.
Harding
11-8
11-8

6.
Eckerd
16-8
16-5

7.
Rollins
16-7
11-7

8.
West Georgia
13-10
13-10

9.
Alabama-Huntsville
13-12
11-10

10.
Christian Brothers
15-9
14-7

Analysis: North Alabama (23-7 overall, 10-2 GSC) is on a roll entering the Gulf South Conference tournament, winning eight straight games, and a GSC East Division title. But perennial Sunshine State Conference power Florida Southern wants to steal the Lions thunder, and the home court advantage for the South Regional tournament. As the SIAC regular season champions, Benedict hopes to avoid an early exit from its conference tournament.

South Atlantic Region

1.
Augusta State
21-3
21-3

2.
South Carolina Aiken
23-2
23-1

3.
Lenoir-Rhyne
20-3
19-3

4.
Virginia Union
19-6
17-6

5.
Elizabeth City State
17-6
17-6

6.
Wingate
19-4
17-4

7.
Bowie State
18-7
18-7

8.
Carson-Newman
18-4
18-4

9.
Armstrong Atlantic State
16-9
16-9

10.
Johnson C. Smith
16-9
16-9

Analysis: With its 65-56 win over Clayton State, combined with Augusta State's 91-83 upset loss to Columbus State, both on Feb. 27, USC Aiken (24-2, 18-1 PBC) not only clinched the Peach Belt Conference regular season title-while carrying an 11-game winning streak into next week's PBC tournament, they also put themselves in position to overtake their Central Savannah River Area rivals for the top spot in next week's regional poll. It'll be interesting to see whether the Pacers can maintain that pace heading into postseason play en route to hosting the South Atlantic Regional.