INDIANAPOLIS – In the first NCAA Division II regional rankings release, the Cal State San Marcos men’s basketball team (16-9, 15-5 CCAA) came in at No. 7 in the West Region, the NCAA announced on Wednesday.
At 23-3 overall, the PacWest Conference’s Point Loma topped the list while CCAA opponent Cal State San Bernardino (21-3) came in at No. 2. The Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s Saint Martin’s took the No. 3 spot with a 19-4 record while the PacWest’s Azusa Pacific was the fourth team at 19-6. With a 17-6 record, the GNAC’s Montana State Billings took the fifth spot while Academy of Art from the PacWest was sixth at 17-7. After CSUSM on the list, the PacWest’s Hawai’I Hilo was eighth at 14-6 while the GNAC’s Seattle Pacific (12-10) was ninth. Rounding out the first rankings release was PacWest opponent Biola at 12-10.
The announcement of the 2023 NCAA Division II Men’s’ Basketball Championship Tournament will come via a live selection show at NCAA.com on March 5 at 8 p.m. PST (11 p.m. EST). The NCAA will release one final regional ranking at NCAA.com next Wednesday afternoon leading up to the selection show in two weeks. The winners of the three conference tournaments (CCAA, PacWest, GNAC) will receive an automatic bid into the postseason with the last five spots being at-large selections.
Should the Cougars maintain their ranking as one of the top eight teams in the West Region when the 64-team NCAA tournament field is announced on March 5, CSUSM will have qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season.
CSUSM will close out its regular-season schedule by hosting Cal Poly Humboldt (12-14, 10-10 CCAA) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Sonoma State (11-15, 10-10 CCAA) on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Cougars have already locked up the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinals of the CCAA Tournament taking place March 2-4 at Stanislaus State in Turlock. CSUSM’s semifinal game on March 3 at noon will feature the Cougars and the winner of the No. 3 seed and No. 6 seed quarterfinal game taking place the day before.
Rank School Overall DII Record In-Region Record
1 Point Loma 23-3 23-2
2 Cal State San Bernardino 21-3 21-2
3 Saint Martin’s 19-4 17-4
4 Azusa Pacific 19-6 19-6
5 Montana State Billings 17-6 16-5
6 Academy of Art 17-7 17-7
7 Cal State San Marcos 16-9 16-9
8 Hawaii Hilo 14-6 14-6
9 Seattle Pacific 12-10 12-10
10 Biola 12-10 12-10
