The North Central Missouri College men’s basketball program, with momentum from the team’s first-ever trip to the national tournament, and the insertion of a talented recruiting class, have started the season 9-1. The pollsters have taken notice, as NCMC, on Monday morning, entered the NJCAA Division Two rankings for the first time this season, checking in at #16, just one spot behind a potential postseason opponent, in #15 Arkansas State Mid-South. The Pirates had been “receiving votes”, but out of the Top 20, for three consecutive polls to begin the 2019-2020 season.
North Central has 39 points, two ahead of Davidson County and Potomac State, both with 37 and tied for 17th place. Out of the Kansas City metropolitan area, the Johnson County CC Cavaliers (Overland Park, KS) are the top ranked team in the country, receiving all ten first-place votes and 200 points. The 9-0 Cavaliers will host the Pirates in an early December showdown at Cavalier Fieldhouse on Tuesday night, December 3rd at 7:30, in a game to be broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7:
Coach Jeremy Esry, before Tuesday night’s home game with John Wood Community College, spoke about the #16 ranking for his squad:
North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC), out of Mason City, is ranked second, followed by Schoolcraft, Milwaukee Area Tech, and Niagara County.
The only team to beat North Central this season, Parkland College out of Champaign, Illinois, is 6-2 and ranked 11th, up five spots from the rankings on November 18th. The Pirate men will travel to Creston, Iowa on Saturday for a 3 o’clock showdown with the Southwestern Community College Spartans.
NCMC’s Region XVI rival, St. Louis Community College, is slowly creeping up the polls, with the Archers, off to a 4-1 spot, receiving 11 points this week, placing STLCC in “receiving votes” at #23 in the country. Another long-time Pirate opponent, North Arkansas, has four points in this week’s national rankings.
