INDIANAPOLIS – The MSU Denver men's basketball team is officially "under consideration" for a potential invitation to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
The NCAA's first regional "rankings" of the season were released Wednesday, and the Roadrunners are one of 10 teams being considered to be included in the eight-team South Central Region.
 
In an exercise that only muddles the picture, the NCAA doesn't release its actual regional rankings, in which the teams are ranked in order, until next week.
 
The region rankings are eventually used to determine seedings and at-large qualifiers for regional tournaments. In the South Central, the champions of the Rocky Mountain Athletic and Lone Star Conferences earn automatic trips to the regional, with six at-large invitations issued based on the reginoal ranking.
 
Unofficially, MSU Denver appears to be close to the top eight in the region.
 
The Roadrunners rank seventh among South Central teams in in-region winning percentage, tied for seventh in overall Division II winning percentage, eighth in RPI, eighth in "performance indicator" and tied for 13^th Division II strength of schedule. Those are among the categories that are considered by regional ranking committees.
 
Region rankings can change weekly, so being under consideration this week doesn't mean a team is guaranteed a spot in the top 10 next week.