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| Conference tourneys in the West are less than a month away. |
Conference tournaments begin in a little less than four weeks, so the push is on to qualify for these events and compete for the automatic bids to the NCAA West Regionals that go to the respective tourney winners in the GNAC, PacWest and CCAA.
Tournament champions in all three conferences will be crowned on Saturday, March 9. The GNAC and PacWest conduct six-team tournaments in each gender, with the CCAA conducting eight-team tourneys. (Note: we encourage you to attend the GNAC Championships at Western Washington University, but if you are unable to be there in person, we will have you covered with free live streaming coverage courtesy of GNAC.tv).
The primary focus of the six-member regional ranking committees is to seed the top eight teams in the region. In essence, the final regional ranking determines the five at-large berths to the eight-team regionals in each gender. The regional ranking committees are composed of two members from each conference (generally one coach and one administrator).
Information considered by the regional ranking committees is almost completely numbers-based, with evaluations based on in-region DII winning percentage, overall DII winning percentage, DII strength of schedule, head-to-head competition and results vs. DII common opponents. Additional criteria vary by gender and include other numbers-based yardsticks (e.g., ratings percentage indicator, performance indicator, records vs. ranked teams or records vs. DII teams with a .500 record or better).
Some key men's and women's basketball dates to remember as the push for postseason berths moves into overdrive:
Tuesday, Feb. 12 -- Practice regional ranking calls
Tuesday, Feb. 19 -- First regional ranking calls
Tuesday, Feb. 26 -- Second regional ranking calls
Friday, March 1 -- Host bid proposals due to NCAA
Tuesday, March 5 -- Third regional ranking calls
Saturday, March 9 -- GNAC, PacWest, CCAA automatic NCAA berths determined
Saturday, March 9 -- Final regional ranking calls
Sunday, March 10 -- NCAA bracket announcement
Friday, March 15-Monday, March 18 -- West Regionals (hosted by the top seed in each gender)
Conference tournament notes:
- The six-team GNAC conference tournaments will be hosted March 7-9 at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. The top two seeds in each gender earn first-round byes.
- The six-team PacWest conference tournaments will be hosted March 7-9 at Dominican University in San Rafael, Calif. The top two seeds in each gender earn first-round byes.
- The eight-team CCAA tournaments [men I women] will begin with the quarterfinals March 5 at campus sites (higher seeds host), with the semis and finals in each gender taking place March 8-9 at Cal State East Bay in Hayward, Calif.
West Region site notes:
- The top regional seed in each gender (pending an acceptable host bid) will host eight-team regionals March 15-18. (Should the No. 1 seed in each gender be from the same institution, the regionals would be divided into two four-team events in each gender, with the No. 2 seeds having the first opportunity to host the second four-team events).
- In the GNAC, Saint Martin's and Northwest Nazarene currently have the best shots at earning the No. 1 seed and hosting rights on the men's side. On the women's side, both Alaska Anchorage and Northwest Nazarene are in strong contention to host the West Regionals.
- Host sites will be revealed shortly before the NCAA bracket announcements Sunday evening, March 10.
Here are your conference leaders (top six plus ties) through games of Saturday, Feb. 9:
| Men's Basketball Standings | |||
| GNAC | Conf | Overall | Streak |
| St. Martin's | 12-2 | 19-3 | Won 2 |
| Northwest Nazarene | 11-3 | 16-4 | Won 1 |
| Western Oregon | 10-4 | 17-6 | Won 1 |
| Seattle Pacific | 10-4 | 13-6 | Won 4 |
| Alaska Anchorage | 7-7 | 12-10 | Lost 3 |
| Simon Fraser | 6-8 | 12-10 | Won 3 |
| Western Washington | 6-8 | 12-12 | Lost 1 |
| Montana State Billings | 6-8 | 11-11 | Lost 3 |
| PacWest | Conf | Overall | Streak |
| Point Loma | 16-1 | 20-3 | Won 2 |
| Concordia-Irvine | 13-3 | 17-8 | Won 1 |
| Chaminade | 11-4 | 17-4 | Won 3 |
| Azusa Pacific | 12-5 | 15-9 | Won 1 |
| Holy Names | 10-8 | 11-12 | Lost 1 |
| Biola | 8-7 | 12-9 | Won 2 |
| CCAA | Conf | Overall | Streak |
| Cal State East Bay | 13-4 | 18-5 | Won 2 |
| UC San Diego | 12-4 | 17-6 | Lost 2 |
| Cal Poly Pomona | 12-5 | 14-5 | Won 7 |
| San Francisco State | 10-6 | 14-7 | Won 3 |
| Cal State San Bernardino | 11-7 | 15-9 | Won 2 |
| Humboldt State | 9-7 | 15-9 | Lost 2 |
| Women's Basketball Standings | |||
| GNAC | Conf | Overall | Streak |
| Alaska Anchorage | 13-1 | 21-1 | Won 14 |
| Northwest Nazarene | 13-1 | 21-1 | Won 4 |
| Simon Fraser | 10-4 | 14-7 | Won 2 |
| Central Washington | 9-5 | 14-7 | Won 3 |
| Western Washington | 7-7 | 12-10 | Lost 1 |
| Concordia-Portland | 6-8 | 11-11 | Won 1 |
| Montana State Billings | 6-8 | 10-10 | Lost 1 |
| Seattle Pacific | 6-8 | 7-14 | Lost 2 |
| PacWest | Conf | Overall | Streak |
| Azusa Pacific | 16-1 | 19-4 | Won 2 |
| Dominican | 15-2 | 18-3 | Won 5 |
| Hawai'i Pacific | 14-2 | 16-6 | Lost 1 |
| Point Loma | 12-5 | 13-10 | Won 7 |
| Fresno Pacific | 11-6 | 15-8 | Lost 1 |
| Biola | 7-8 | 9-12 | Lost 2 |
| CCAA | Conf | Overall | Streak |
| UC San Diego | 16-0 | 20-0 | Won 20 |
| Cal Poly Pomona | 15-2 | 19-3 | Won 1 |
| Humboldt State | 11-5 | 13-6 | Won 2 |
| Chico State | 9-7 | 12-7 | Lost 2 |
| Cal State San Marcos | 8-8 | 11-9 | Lost 1 |
| Cal State Dominguez Hills | 8-8 | 12-10 | Lost 1 |
