NCAA DIVISION III MEN'S BASKETBALL REGIONAL RANKINGS

MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg College is the No. 9-ranked team in the West Region in the latest NCAA Division III West Region men's basketball rankings, released on Wednesday.

Augsburg remains in the hunt for its second straight berth in the six-team Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference postseason playoffs, with five games remaining in the regular season. Augsburg is currently 14-6 overall, 9-6 in MIAC play, just one win from tying last year's win total (15-12) and two wins from its best record since the 1999-2000 campaign (16-8).

Three MIAC teams are in the regional rankings -- St. Thomas is No. 3, Gustavus is No. 6 and Augsburg is No. 9. Wisconsin-Whitewater leads the regional rankings, while Wisconsin-Stevens Point is second. The next regional poll will be released next Wednesday.

A total of 61 teams will qualify for the NCAA Division III national tournament -- 40 conference champions (Pool A), two teams from non-automatic-qualifying conferences (Pool B) and 19 at-large teams (Pool C). There are 60 teams in the West Region, which includes the Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Southern California and Northwest conferences, along with 14 other institutions.

Augsburg returns to action with a game on Saturday (2/6) at 3 p.m. against Macalester at Si Melby Hall.