The UAA women's basketball team premiered at No. 1 Wednesday in the first NCAA Division II West Region rankings, which help determine NCAA tournament qualification.
The UAA men entered at No. 9.
To qualify for the eight-team West Region tournaments, teams must either win their conference tournament or finish as one of the five highest remaining teams in the regional rankings.
The region consists of teams from three conferences: the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the Pacific West Conference and the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
The region's top-ranked team often hosts the West Region tournament, although last year the UAA women landed the No. 2 seed despite finishing first in the final rankings.
The UAA women, who are 23-0 against Division II competition, are joined in the regional rankings by fellow GNAC members Western Washington (21-3) at No. 3, Simon Fraser (22-4) at No. 4, and Seattle Pacific (16-7) at No. 8.
With its No. 9 ranking, the UAA men are on the bubble for the last playoff spot. The only other ranked GNAC men's team is No. 4 Western Washington (18-5 in Division II), so the Seawolves need to either win the GNAC tournament or leapfrog teams from the other conferences in order to qualify.
Both Seawolves squads have four games remaining before the GNAC tournaments March 2-4 in Lacey, Washington.
The regional rankings will be released again Feb. 22 and March 1, leading to the announcement of the NCAA tournament field on March 5.
Women’s West Region rankings
Rank Team vs. DII vs. region
1) UAA 23-0 21-0
2) Cal Baptist 25-2 24-2
3) Western Washington 21-3 21-2
4) Simon Fraser 22-4 21-4
5) UC San Diego 18-5 17-5
6) Hawaii Pacific 17-4 16-3
7) Point Loma 19-3 19-3
8) Seattle Pacific 16-7 15-7
9) Cal State East Bay 16-7 16-7
10) Cal Poly Pomona 13-9 13-9
(records through Feb. 12)
Men’s West Region rankings
Rank Team vs. DII vs. West
1) California Baptist 21-2 20-2
2) UC San Diego 19-5 19-5
3) San Francisco State 19-3 19-3
4) Western Washington 18-5 18-3
5) Chico State 16-6 16-6
6) Sonoma State 17-5 17-5
7) Hawaii Pacific 17-2 16-2
8) Dixie State 16-6 16-6
9) UAA 15-5 15-5
10) Chaminade 15-6 15-6
(records through Feb. 14)