INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Thanks to winning its final eight games of the regular season to finish tied for second in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings, Colorado State University Pueblo is ranked 10th in the second South Central Region rankings that were released Wednesday by the NCAA.
The ThunderWolves, who opened RMAC Tournament play with an 82-70 quarterfinal round win on Tuesday at home over No. 6 seed Colorado School of Mines, is one of three RMAC schools ranked in the final region rankings before the selection show on Sunday evening.
CSU Pueblo, who is now 22-7 overall and 20-7 in NCAA Division II and in-region games, will look to make 10 straight wins on Friday, March 7 as the Pack faces No. 2 seeded Colorado Mesa in one of the two semifinal round games of the RMAC Tournament at A2 Arena on the campus of Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D.
In addition to the Pack, Black Hills State, who is the top seed in the RMAC Tournament and ranked 13th in this week's latest NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll, is ranked No. 6 and Colorado Mesa is ranked No. 8.
Along the contingent of three RMAC schools, the poll includes seven schools from the Lone Star Conference as Lubbock Christian (26-4 D-II, 21-3 in-region) is ranked No. 1, and is followed by Dallas Baptist (24-6 D-II, 23-4 in-region) at No. 2 and Eastern New Mexico (23-4 D-II, 23-4 in-region), who owns a 70-63 win in Pueblo this season over the Pack, is at No. 3. Western New Mexico (22-6 D-II, 22-6 in-region) is at No. 4 and St. Edward's (22-7 D-II, 19-7 in-region) is at No. 5.
The final five of the rankings begins with Black Hills State (23-4 D-II, 23-4 in-region) at No. 6, while St. Mary's (Texas) (20-8 D-II, 20-8 in-region) is at N0. 7 and following Colorado Mesa (19-9 D-II, 19-9 in-region) at No. 8 is West Texas A&M (18-10 D-II, 16-8 in-region) at No. 9 and the Pack rounds out the rankings at No. 10.
CSU Pueblo is part of the South Central Region which is composed of two conferences – the RMAC and the LSC. The top eight teams in the region advance to the NCAA Regional Tournament on March 13-17 at the site of the top seed in the region. Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the RMAC and LSC postseason tournaments, with the remaining five spots being awarded on an at-large basis.
The 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Selection Show will air on www.NCAA.com on Sunday, March 8 at 9:00 p.m. MT. The NCAA Division II Elite Eight and Final Four will take place in Pittsburgh, Penn., while the National Championship game will be played in Indianapolis, Ind., in conjunction with the NCAA Division I Men's Final Four weekend.
