Ashland University's men's basketball team is in the No. 9 spot in the third set of NCAA Division II Midwest Region rankings, released on Wednesday (March 4) afternoon.
The Eagles are 20-9, and will face Lake Erie (22-7) in a 2026 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal on Friday (March 6) at 7:30 p.m. at Walsh. AU defeated Northwood, 67-52, on Tuesday (March 3) night in the first round of the tournament at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium, but games played that day were not figured into the third set of regional rankings.
Regional rankings were released in alphabetical order on Feb. 18, and rank order on Feb. 25. The NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament selection show will be Sunday (March 8) at 11 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Ashland men's basketball has played in 14 previous NCAA postseasons (1968-71, 1976-78, 1988, 1990-91, 2016, 2019, 2021 and 2023), as well as six previous NAIA playoffs (1960-63, 1965 and 1967).
The Eagles were named the 1968-69 national champions by both the Associated Press and United Press International.
A 64-team tournament (eight teams in each of eight regions), the D-II postseason will begin on March 14, and Ashland's conference and NCAA postseason road looks like this:
- The Great Midwest Tournament, with the championship game set for Saturday (March 7) at 3 p.m. at Walsh.
- The eight-team 2026 NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament will be March 14-15 and 17 (site to be determined).
- The 2026 NCAA Division II Elite Eight and Final Four will be in Pittsburgh, Pa., on March 25 and 27, and the national championship will be in Indianapolis, Ind., on April 5.
In the Midwest Region, automatic qualifiers come from the winners of the Great Midwest, Great Lakes Valley Conference and Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The other five teams are chosen as at-large entries. There are 37 teams in the Midwest Region eligible for postseason play – 15 from the GLVC, 12 from the Great Midwest, and 10 from the GLIAC.
2026 NCAA DIVISION II MIDWEST REGION MEN'S BASKETBALL RANKINGS (FIRST RANKINGS WERE ALPHABETICAL, UC = UNDER CONSIDERATION)
| TEAM |
THIRD RANKING |
SECOND RANKING |
FIRST RANKING |
| Michigan Tech |
1 |
1 |
UC |
| Rockhurst |
2 |
2 |
UC |
| Northern Michigan |
3 |
4 |
UC |
| Grand Valley State |
4 |
3 |
UC |
| Walsh |
5 |
5 |
UC |
| Lake Erie |
6 |
6 |
UC |
| William Jewell |
7 |
8 |
UC |
| McKendree |
8 |
9 |
UC |
| ASHLAND UNIVERSITY |
9 |
7 |
UC |
| Missouri S&T |
10 |
10 |
UC |
