REGIONAL RANKINGS REVIEW--WOMEN

As the regular season winds down, the regional rankings have become more critical in terms of which eight teams per region will advance to the NCAA Division II tournament.

Over the next several weeks, D-II South Sports will break down the rankings in both the South and South Atlantic Regions, and what impact those numbers will have on the eventual selection process. First up are the women's rankings.

Source: NCAA Sports.com via d2basketball.com

KEY: First record is games against all Division II opponents only. The second record is games against all regional opponents. Non-NCAA Division II games were not counted in the regional rankings.

South Region

1
Delta State
20-0
16-0

2
West Georgia
21-2
21-2

3
Arkansas Tech
16-3
16-3

4
Tampa
18-5
16-4

5
Nova Southeastern
17-6
14-5

6
Valdosta State
19-4
18-4

7
Tuskegee
15-7
15-5

8
Harding
12-7
12-7

9
Fort Valley State
15-8
14-6

10
Barry
16-8
13-6

Analysis: The Gulf South Conference leads the way in the South Region with five teams, three of those holding the top three spots (DSU, UWG, and ATU). The Sunshine State Conference, though, looks a two-team race between Tampa and Nova Southeastern for first place there. It appears the SIAC regular season title race could come down to either Fort Valley State or Tuskegee.

South Atlantic Region

1
Francis Marion
16-4
16-4

2
Columbus State
14-7
14-7

3
Clayton State
15-7
15-5

4
Augusta State
16-6
16-6

5
North Georgia
15-8
15-8

6
Tusculum
19-3
16-3

7
Wingate
16-7
16-6

8
Shaw
17-11
15-6

9
Johnson C. Smith
16-7
16-7

10
South Carolina-Aiken
14-6
13-6

The Peach Belt Conference regular season championship race appears to be the tightest in years, with the top six teams separated by one game heading into action on Feb. 20. That would mean Francis Marion's (18-5, 11-5 PBC) stay at the top of the South Atlantic Region rankings will be short lived after 95-81 upset loss to Lander just two nights earlier. That could make for the most exciting PBC tournament in a long time.