AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Augusta State
men's basketball squad moved up one spot in the national
rankings on Tuesday, March 10, improving to No. 4 in the 15th and
final NABC poll of the 2008-09 season.
With the ranking, ASU has now appeared in the top 25 for a
school-record 35 consecutive weeks, dating back to the 2006-07
campaign. The Jaguars have been ranked among the top 10 in the
nation in 16 of the last 17 polls.
ASU went 3-0 last weekend, capturing its first Peach Belt
Conference Tournament title since 2002 with wins over Lander,
Georgia College & State and USC Aiken in the PBC Tournament
championship game. With the victory, the Jags became the first team
to win both the regular-season conference title and the
league's tourney crown since Kennesaw State in 2004.
ASU earned the highest ranking in school history on Tuesday, Dec. 9
when it moved up from No. 4 to No. 3 in the nation.
The Jags are the highest ranked of three PBC teams among the top
25. USC Aiken is ranked No. 16 while Armstrong Atlantic State is
No. 25. Georgia College & State dropped out of the poll after
its PBC tourney semifinal loss to ASU.
Findlay (Ohio), C.W. Post (N.Y.) and BYU-Hawaii retained the top
three spots in the poll, followed by ASU at No. 4 Gannon (Pa.) at
No. 5.
Findlay (30-0) wrapped up its undefeated run into the regional
tournament by beating Grand Valley State in the title game in the
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament. The
Oilers will open play in the Midwest Regional against that same
Laker team Saturday evening.
C.W. Post (27-0) beat Bridgeport in the championship game of the
East Coast Conference Tournament and takes the top seed into the
East Regional where it will take on Philadelphia Saturday night.
The No. 3 ranked team, BYU-Hawaii (25-1), will be among the first
to start regional play as it hosts a sub-regional contest in the
West Regional Friday against Humboldt State.
No. 4 ASU (26-4), No. 5 Gannon (27-3) and No. 6 Central Missouri
(26-4) are also playing host to regional tournaments this week as
top seeds, as are No. 11 Florida Southern and No. 12 Southwest
Minnesota State. Western Washington, which is ranked 23rd, will
host the other sub-regional in the West; the two sub-regional
winners will play Tuesday for the regional title and berth to the
Elite Eight at the home of the highest remaining seed.
NABC Coaches Poll
(as of Tuesday, March 10, 2009)
Record Points Pvs
1. Findlay (Ohio) (8) 30-0 200 1
2. C.W. Post (N.Y.) 27-0 192 2
3. BYU-Hawaii 25-1 184 3
4. AUGUSTA STATE 26-4 176 5
5. Gannon (Pa.) 27-3 168 6
6. Central Missouri 26-4 160 8
7. Southwest Baptist (Mo.) 24-4 148 4
8. Metropolitan State (Colo.) 27-3 144 11
9. Northern Kentucky 24-6 132 15
10. Claflin (S.C.) 24-3 122 7
11. Florida Southern 27-6 118 20
12. Southwest Minnesota State 25-6 99 9
13. Central Oklahoma 24-5 88 10
14. Benedict (S.C.) 24-5 83 14
15. Christian Brothers (Tenn.) 22-6 79 12
16. USC Aiken 23-7 74 17
17. Alderson-Broaddus (W. Va.) 26-5 71 16
18. Bellarmine (Ky.) 24-6 68 18
19. Southern Indiana 26-6 59 13
20. Kutztown (Pa.) 26-4 50 21
21. Midwestern State (Texas) 24-6 41 NR
22. St. Cloud State (Minn.) 22-8 31 NR
23. Western Washington 21-5 25 NR
24. Bentley (Mass.) 24-6 22 19
25. Armstrong Atlantic State (Ga.) 23-6 17 23
Dropped out: West Virginia State (22), Georgia
College & State (24), Winona State (25).
Others receiving votes: Barton (N.C.) 14, Georgia
College & State 8, West Virginia State 7, Assumption (Mass.) 5,
Incarnate Word (Texas) 5, Virginia Union 4, Arkansas Tech 3,
Pittsburgh-Johnstown (Pa.) 2, Massachusetts-Lowell 1.
Records are through games of March 1, 2009