KUTZTOWN, Pa. – No. 1 Kutztown field hockey was ranked first in the initial NCAA Division II National Power Index (NPI) Atlantic Region.
 
The DII Field Hockey Championship is an eight-team, single-elimination tournament. The Committee will select the five teams from the Atlantic region (two automatic qualifiers, one each from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and South Atlantic Conference, plus three at-large teams) and three teams from the East region (two automatic qualifiers, one each from the East Coast Conference and Northeast-10 Conference, plus one at-large team).
 
The committee will seed and pair teams for the championship according to the geographic travel policy established by the NCAA Division II Championships Committee. The field hockey committee shall seed the top eight teams in the championship field. First-round games will be Saturday, Nov. 21, semifinals will be Thursday, Dec. 3 and the championship final will be Saturday, Dec. 5.
 
Seven of the eight teams in the rankings are from the PSAC, including KU, East Stroudsburg (2), Shippensburg (3), West Chester (5), Bloomsburg (6), IUP (7) and Slippery Rock (8). Newberry out of the South Atlantic Conference is ranked fourth.
 
The five Atlantic Region teams will be selected using the NCAA Power Index (NPI), the system that houses the division's statistical data and objectively applies the selection criteria to the data based on the sport committee's established weighted criteria. NPI will determine the at-large teams selected to the championship after Automatic Qualifiers (AQ) have been designated.
 
NPI is a combination of the following: winning percentage; strength of schedule; home-away multiplier; quality win bonus; and overtime results (when applicable).
 
The next ranking will be published on October 26, followed by November 2. After November 2, rankings will be updated daily.