INDIANAPOLIS – The Augustana men's basketball team checks in at No. 1 on the initial NCAA Division II Central Region Rankings announced Wednesday. The Vikings, ranked No. 5 in the NABC Coaches' Poll, own a 19-2 DII record, with the two losses being the fewest in the 10-team regional ranking.
 
Joining Augustana in the poll are four other NSIC schools, all programs AU owns victories over.
 
There will be two more releases of the rankings with the final rankings set to come out Sunday, March 6 at 9:30 p.m. when announcing the 64-team field for the NCAA Tournament.
 
The NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament is slated for March 12-15 with the No. 1 seed set to host.
 
Augustana closes the regular season Thursday at Sioux Falls and Saturday vs. Southwest Minnesota State inside the Sanford Pentagon. Thursday's game is slated for 7:30 p.m. while Saturday's is a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.

Full Central Region Rankings
 

Rank	School	Overall DII	In-Region
1	Augustana	19-2	19-2
2	Upper Iowa	22-4	21-4
3	Minnesota Duluth	20-4	20-4
4	Northwest Missouri	21-3	20-3
5	Central Oklahoma	18-4	18-4
6	Fort Hays State	17-4	17-4
7	Southeastern Oklahoma	16-5	15-5
8	Southern Nazarene	17-7	17-7
9	Wayne State	11-9.	11-9.
10	Winona State	13-9	13-9