January Rankings for the NWBA Junior Varsity Division have been released. This past month was very active with more teams playing in a variety of competitions. The top 17 spots remained pretty consistent from the previous rankings with the top 5 teams maintaining their positions. These top ranked teams played consistently well and this is reflected in the rankings.
The Milwaukee Jr. Bucks took over the No. 6 spot bumping the Utah Jr. Bucks down one position. Similarly the LWSRA claimed No. 10 pushing the Chicago Skyhawks to No. 11. The Seattle Jr. Sonics dropped a spot as well landing at No.13.
The Peoria Wildcats were the surprise team, with a massive jump into the top 20 getting ranked at No. 17. The Peoria team was No. 37 last month. This was due in part to its great showing at the Whitewater Junior Regional Tournament. The Charlotte Rolling Hornets moved up from No. 40 to No. 34, and this marks a return to Junior Varsity play for the first time in several years.
Eight of the teams (highlighted with asterisks) have automatically qualified to take part in the National Tournament because they placed in the top two at their respective Junior Regional tournaments.
February and March will prove to be quite busy for the Junior Division with tournaments such as the Midwest Junior Regional Tournament and the San Diego Junior Tournament taking place in the coming weeks.
The top 16 teams will be invited to participate in the Junior Division National Tournament (NJWBT) and teams ranked 17-32 will play in the Junior Invitational Tournament (NJIT). Both will take place from April 7-10 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Click here for a list of upcoming tournaments:
http://www.nwba.org/page/show/2064988-tournaments-
Be sure to look out for the last ranking that will be issued in early March.
Teams listed below with an asterisk (*) after their name have earned a spot at the National Tournament through their success at Regional Tournaments.