DENVER – No judgement, because scheduling can be difficult and a multitude of factors are involved, but the list of opponents that South Central Region men's basketball teams racked up victories against last weekend wasn't exactly a who's who of Division II.
 
More like, who's that? And what division do they play?
 
Williams Baptist (Ark.), Navajo Tech (N.M.), Multnomah (Ore.), Justice (Ariz.), College of Biblical Studies-Houston, Ecclesia (Ark.) and Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) are just a few of those mismatched teams.
 
So, did MSU Denver find that two more wins last week over actual Division II teams – Seattle Pacific and Simon Fraser (B.C.) – was beneficial?
 
How couldn't it?
 
"My philosophy, and the reason we've scheduled who we've scheduled, is that we have to play those types of teams to get to the level we want to be at," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "Next year (with two more non-conference games), we're going to schedule Division II teams. We want Division II wins, and we want regional wins. The ultimate goal is to win the RMAC Tournament (for an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament), but we also want to be in position to be considered for an at-large berth if we don't win the RMAC."
 
MSU Denver also learned something else while improving to 6-0 for just the second time since 2012-13. Teams with Division II-level talent can cause problems. Especially when you're a nationally-ranked team.
 
And now the Roadrunners have been promoted to No. 8 in Division II in the coaches poll, and to No. 11 by sports information directors.
 
"The target on your back gets bigger and bigger," Ficke said. "And we learned last weekend that if you have even a little bit of a letdown against a good team like Seattle Pacific, they're going to give you a game. And Simon Fraser hung tough against us in the first half."
 
All of this leads us into its another big weekend of basketball for the Roadrunners, who open Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play with home games Friday at 7 p.m. against 4-2 Westminster and Saturday at 5:30 p.m. against 3-1 Colorado Mesa, which is ranked No. 18 by the coaches and is receiving votes in the other poll.
 
"Our guys are all really excited to start RMAC play," Ficke said. "And the early part of our conference schedule isn't easy, with some of the perennially top teams right off the bat in the month of December."
 
MSU Denver has been led by the two-pronged scoring attack of forward Caleb McGill (19.8 points per game) and Bryaden Maldonado (19.7), who rank second and third, respectively, in the RMAC. The Roadrunners are also getting plenty of support from Mario Lacy, Jr. (second in the RMAC in field goal percentage at 69.8, and first in rebounds with 58).
 
Westminster sharpened its game with a couple of easy wins last week, but the Griffins come in well-respected after thumping MSU Denver 93-65 in last year's league opener.
 
"Westminster is always physical and well-coached," Ficke said. "They run a system, and they play to that. Defensively they try to keep you on one side of the floor and take you out of what you want to run. Hopefully we learned our lesson against them last year."
 
Colorado Mesa, which had last weekend off, is 3-1. The Mavericks, the preseason RMAC favorites, lost only in their season opener, 89-84 to a Dallas Baptist team that is currently ranked Nos. 10 and 5 in the national polls.
 
"I think we match up well with them," Ficke said. "We had three great battles with them last year (winning once). I think we have similar philosophies from a coaching standpoint and style of play standpoint. They're playing extremely fast this year. They and Fort Lewis are the (defending) league champions until someone finishes ahead of them.
 
"Westminster will want a signature win against the team that's been getting all the early-season hype, and you can't blame Mesa for feeling like it's the better team against us and feeling like it should be in the conversation."