With Saturday’s victory over and losses by three of last week’s top ten, the men’s basketball team has moved into tenth in this week’s National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Coaches Poll, announced Tuesday by the organization.
Starting 5-0 for the second time in three years, the men’s basketball team has reached its highest ranking ever in the Division II poll since moving to that level from NAIA in 2000. Its previous high was 13th, first achieved last year after winning back-to-back games at BYU Hawaii and at Hawaii Pacific and matched last week after defeating four CCAA schools to start the 2007-08 season.
men’s basketball was last in the top ten of any poll on Dec. 18, 1962, achieving a ranking of tenth in the AP Division I writers’ poll after starting that season 5-0 with victories over , State, , , and Xavier. first appeared in the AP poll at #20 on Feb. 13, 1951, starting a run of appearing in the poll at least once in 10 of the next 15 seasons. The team achieved a program-best ranking of fourth during the 1956-57 season when it went 22-3 and won 18 straight games before losing to St. Bonaventure at the National Invitational Tournament in New York City.
is one of three West region schools presently in the NABC Division II coaches poll. Cal State San Bernardino received one first place vote in moving up from ninth to sixth, while Seattle Pacific entered the poll for the first time this season at #23. , a team defeated on Nov. 16 and will face again on Dec. 22, is in the “also receiving votes” category.
With final exams approaching, will play two exhibition games over the next couple of weeks, facing Canadian school this Saturday, Dec. 8 and the alumni team next Saturday, Dec. 15. Both contests begin at 3 p.m. at the .