Their hopes thought to be have been all but extinguished of making the NCAA Division II Tournament field after a GLVC Tourney opening-round loss at Bellarmine, the Drury women's soccer Panthers got new life on Wednesday when the latest official Mdiwest Region rankings were released.
Despite the 1-0 loss at Bellarmine last Sunday, coach Alf Bilbao's Panthers (13-6) actually moved up one spot to sixth in the Midwest Region rankings. The final rankings are due out on Monday, at which time the top six teams will advance to two sites the following weekend (Nov. 13-15) for regional games, at the homes of the top two seeded teams.
Grand Valley State is first in the regional rankings, followed by Northern Kentucky, Bellarmine, Indianapolis, Quincy, Drury, Saginaw Valley State, Wisconsin-Parkside, Southern Indiana and Tiffin.
That top six scenario would change only if someone not in the current top six were to win either the GLVC or GLIAC Tournament this weekend and claim one of the automatic NCAA-II regional bids, thereby bumping the No. 6 team. That can't happen in the GLVC, as all four semifinalists (NKU, Bellarmine, Indy and Quincy) are currently ranked in the top five in the region.
However, in the GLIAC Tournament, region No. 7 Saginaw Valley State plays region No. 10 Tiffin in one semifinal, while region No. 1 Grand Valley State meets unranked Northern Michigan in the other, both on Friday in Allendale, Mich. The GLIAC finals are set for Sunday, also in Allendale.
It's also conceivable that Saginaw Valley State, which slipped from sixth to seventh this week, could reclaim the No. 6 spot based on strength of schedule with a strong showing this weekend, much like Drury jumped up one spot by playing region No. 3 Bellarmine.
Bottom line for Bilbao's Panthers: Keep practicing, and wait until the regional committee, armed with their formulas, sort it all out by next Monday.
Drury is seeking its second NCAA-II trip in three years, having reached the Sweet 16 in 2007.
NCAA-II Regional Rankings