SEATTLE (Jan. 19) ­ At midseason, Seattle Pacific University finds itself with the top basketball teams in both the men's and women's NCAA Division II West Region rankings.

The polls will eventually determine which five men's teams join the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, PacWest and CCAA champions and which six women's teams join the GNAC and CCAA regular-season champions in the West Regional playoffs in March. The No. 1 ranked team in the final poll has the right of first refusal to host the playoffs.

The SPU (12-3) men have won 10 of their last 11 games, including victories over teams 4-6 in the regional poll: Western Washington, Chico State and Cal State Bakersfield. The Falcons are No. 11 nationally and host Alaska Anchorage Thursday night at 7.

Seattle Pacific (14-1) is no stranger to the No. 1 position in the women's regional rankings, having finished in that position each of the past two seasons. The No. 3 team in the nation has won 12 straight games, one of which was a road victory over Chico State, the No. 2 team in the West. The Falcons play at Central Washington Thursday.

Three GNAC men's teams are ranked among the top 4 in the poll. Alaska Fairbanks, which plays at SPU Saturday at 3, is second, while Western Washington is fourth. Also in the top 10 is defending regional champion Humboldt State at No. 8.

Other GNAC women's teams under consideration are Western Washington, ranked third, and Saint Martin's, ranked seventh.

Men - 1. Seattle Pacific (12-3); 2. Alaska Fairbanks (11-4); 3. Hawaii Hilo (16-2); 4. Western Washington (11-3); 5. Chico State (9-4); 6. Cal State Bakersfield (10-3); 7. Cal State San Bernardino (10-2); 8. Humboldt State (11-3); 9. Chaminade (11-5); 10. Cal Poly Pomona (9-4).

Women - 1. Seattle Pacific (14-1); 2. Chico State (11-2); 3. Western Washington (13-1); 4. Cal State Bakersfield (10-3); 5. Cal State San Bernardino (10-3); 6. Cal State Dominguez Hills (7-5); 7. Saint Martin's (10-3); 8. UC San Diego (8-5); 9. Montana State - Billings (11-3); 10. Cal Poly Pomona (9-4).