SEATTLE (Jan. 25) ­ Seattle Pacific University has been ranked third in the first NCAA Division II West Region men's basketball poll of the season.

CCAA members Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona, which are ranked 16th and 15th nationally, respectively, are 1-2 in the West. The top seed will have the right to host the regional tournament in March.

Five Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams are among the those receiving consideration. In addition to SPU, GNAC teams ranked include Alaska Anchorage (5th), Seattle (6th), Western Washington (9th) and Alaska Fairbanks (10th).

The Falcons lost at Cal State San Bernardino Dec. 12 and defeated Pomona Nov. 18 at home. They also have wins over Anchorage, BYU Hawaii and Western Washington.

GNAC leader Saint Martin's, which plays at Seattle Pacific tonight, was not eligible to be ranked as only teams with overall Division II records of .500 are considered. The Saints, 5-0 in the GNAC, are 6-7 in Division II games.

The weekly poll will eventually help determine which six at-large teams join the GNAC and CCAA regular-season champions, in the eight-team regional.

NCAA West Regional (Jan. 24) - 1. Cal State San Bernardino (11-2); 2. Cal Poly Pomona (10-3); 3. Seattle Pacific (9-6); 4. Humboldt State (10-3); 5. Alaska Anchorage (9-2); 6. Seattle (10-5); 7. BYU-Hawaii (12-5); 8. Chaminade (7-4); 9. Western Washington (6-6); 10. Alaska Fairbanks (7-5).
Note: Records listed are versus Division II opponents.