The Shippensburg University field hockey team has been included in the first edition of the 2025 NCAA Atlantic Region rankings released Wednesday.
 
The NCAA regional rankings are annually used to determine the teams that qualify for the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships.
 
Rankings are released every Wednesday afternoon until the announcement of the tournament field, which is set for 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9. Each set of rankings includes all games played through the previous Sunday.
 
This edition of the rankings is unseeded. Next week, the teams will be listed in ranked order.
 
For the second consecutive year, eight teams will qualify for the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships. Per the NCAA Pre-Championships manual, five teams from the Atlantic Region and three teams from the East Region will be selected to the 2025 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships following the completion of the regular season and respective conference championships.

Also, for the second straight year, conference champions (PSAC, NE-10, SAC) will receive an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

Upon selection, the eight qualifying teams will be re-seeded No. 1 through No. 8 without consideration for region.
 
Shippensburg is in the Atlantic Region, which is comprised of all 10 field hockey teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and all nine teams in the South Atlantic Conference (SAC) as well as independent Maryville – a total of 20 teams.
 
The East Region is comprised of all 13 field hockey teams that compete in the Northeast-10 Conference as well as independents D'Youville, Dominican (N.Y.) and Roberts Wesleyan.
 
The first round of the NCAA Tournament will feature four quarterfinals hosted at school sites – those games will take place Saturday, Nov. 15.
 
Bloomsburg is the host of the NCAA Semifinals (2 and 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21) and the NCAA Championship Game (1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 23).
 
QUALIFICATION
To be considered for regional rankings and the NCAA Championships selection process, a team must have an overall won-lost record of .500 or better versus Division II opponents. Teams must also have played at least six games against in-region competition.
 
The following required criteria shall be employed by a governing sports committee in selecting participants for NCAA championships competition [Bylaw 31.3.3; Criteria for Selection of Participants]:
● Availability of student-athletes
● Application of nullification
● Division II in-region winning percentage
● Division II winning percentage
● Division II strength of schedule (opponents' average winning percentage and opponents' opponents' average winning percentage)
● Division II head-to-head competition
● Results versus Division II common opponents Sport-Specific Criteria
● Late-season performance (the last seven games before the selection call)
● Performance indicator (PI)
● Rating percentage index (RPI)
 
Additionally, input is provided by regional advisory committees for consideration by the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Committee. A Division II governing sports committee must contact a regional advisory committee before making its final selection of teams or individuals if the committee selection differs from the regional advisory committees. Coaches' polls and/or any other outside polls or rankings are not used by the field hockey committee for selection purposes.