BETHANY, Okla. — After a week that Southern Nazarene set the Great American Conference record for best start in school history at 11-0, the Crimson Storm inched even higher in the D2SIDA Central Region Poll. Despite staying at No. 3, SNU is just two points out of first place and received two first-place votes.

The Storm have 53 points and are just one point behind Northwest Missouri State and two behind Northern State. Both Northern State and Northwest Missouri State lost last week. Northern State received three first-place votes while Northwestern Missouri received one.

Minot State, Washburn and Minnesota State all moved up one sport from last week to 4, 5 and 6, while Central Missouri fell to No. 7. Northwestern Oklahoma State stayed up at No. 8 while Central Oklahoma bounced back at No. 9 after receiving votes last week. Southwest Minnesota State rounds out the poll after being tied for No. 9 last week.

Rank School (First-Place Votes) W-L Pts. Prev.

1. Northern State (3) 20-2 55 T1

2. Northwest Missouri State (1) 16-2 54 T1

3. Southern Nazarene (2) 14-1 53 3

4. Minot State 17-3 38 5

5. Washburn 14-4 36 6

6. Minnesota State 15-4 30 7

7. Central Missouri 14-4 28 4

8. Northwestern Oklahoma State 12-4 15 8

9. Central Oklahoma 13-5 10 RV

10. Southwest Minnesota State 14-6 5 T9

Also Receiving Votes: St. Cloud State, 3; Missouri Southern, 2; Arkansas-Monticello, 1

Dropped Out: Arkansas Tech

The NCAA Division II Central Region Men's Basketball Poll, Sponsored by D2SIDA, is in its fourth year of existence. Each of the eight regions has six representatives from D2SIDA that coordinate the regional committee, with a regional poll that will be released every Monday during the regular season. These weekly rankings are independent of the official NCAA Regional Rankings that will be released closer to the end of the season