Seattle Pacific Men, Women Remain No. 1 in NCAA Regional Hoop Rankings
January 26, 2005

SEATTLE (Jan. 26) – For the second week in a row, the men’s and women’s basketball teams of Seattle Pacific University are ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division II West Region.

The Falcon (14-3) men have won 12 of their last 13 games, including victories over three other top-five teams in the West. They are No. 8 nationally and visit Western Oregon Thursday night at 7.

Seattle Pacific (15-1) has been the No. 1 team on the women’s side for more than two years running and has won 13 straight games. It meets the No. 2 team in the region, Western Washington, in Bellingham Thursday.

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.

On the men's side, GNAC teams hold down three of the top five berths. In addition to SPU, Western Washington is ranked third and Alaska Fairbanks is ranked fifth. Saint Martin's is ranked sixth in the women's poll.

Men: NCAA West Region (Jan. 26) - 1. Seattle Pacific (14-3); 2. Hawaii Hilo (18-2); 3. Western Washington (13-3); 4. Cal State Bakersfield (12-3); 5. Alaska Fairbanks (11-6); 6. 6. Cal Poly Pomona (11-4); 7. Cal State San Bernardino (11-3); 8. Chico State (9-6); 9. BYU-Hawaii (10-4); 10. Chaminade (11-7).

Women: NCAA West Region (Jan. 26): 1. Seattle Pacific (15-1); 2. Western Washington (15-1); 3. Cal State Bakersfield (12-3); 4. Cal State Dominguez Hills (9-5); 5. Chico State (12-3); 6. Saint Martin's (11-4); 7. Cal Poly Pomona (11-4); 8. Cal State San Bernardino (10-5); 9. MSU-Billings (13-4); 10. UC San Diego (8-7).