The Jaguars climbed to No. 1 Tuesday in the 14th NABC/Coaches Poll of the 2009-10 season, according to a release from the NABC national office in Kansas City, Mo.

In their sixth season under head coach Dip Metress, the Jaguars wrapped up the 2009-10 regular season on Saturday, Feb. 27 with an 82-55 Senior Night victory over Lander. They extended their home winning streak to 28 straight and have now won 24 or more games in each of the last four seasons.

ASU (25-2) hosts Armstrong Atlantic State (12-15) in the quarterfinals of the Peach Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Championship on Wednesday, March 3 at 7:00 p.m., in Christenberry Fieldhouse. The winner advances to Saturday’s 6:00 p.m., tourney semifinal at USC Aiken’s Convocation Center.

The No. 1 ranking matches the highest in school history for any of ASU’s 11 varsity sports. The Jags originally earned the top spot in the national rankings – the first in the program’s 45 years of existence — on Tuesday, Jan. 12. The ranking also marked the first time in the Peach Belt Conference’s 20-year history that a men’s basketball team has been ranked No. 1 in the nation.

ASU has now cracked the top five of the national rankings 17 times under head coach Dip Metress. The Jags have appeared in the top 25 for a school-record 49 consecutive weeks, dating back to the 2006-07 campaign. The Jags have been ranked in the top 20 for 38 consecutive weeks and have appeared among the nation’s top 10 in 31 of the last 33 polls.

ASU is one of two Peach Belt Conference members to appear in the national rankings. Georgia College & State moved up from No. 17 to No. 14.

NABC/Coaches Poll
(as of Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010)
					Record  Pts.  Pvs.
1.  AUGUSTA STATE (4)			25-2 	194 	3
2.  Arkansas Tech (4) 			26-1 	187 	1
3.  Kentucky Wesleyan 			28-3 	179 	4
4.  Central Missouri 			25-2 	177 	2
5.  Indiana (Pa.) 			25-2 	170 	6
6.  Midwestern State (Texas) 		25-2 	163 	7
7.  Valdosta State (Ga.) 		24-3 	152 	8
8.  Minnesota State 			24-3 	142 	5
9.  Seattle Pacific (Wash.) 		22-3 	136 	9
10. West Liberty (W.Va.) 		25-1 	127 	12
11. Southern Indiana 			24-3 	124 	10
12. Florida Southern 			24-3 	115 	11
13. Fort Hays State (Kan.) 		22-5 	107 	15
14. Georgia College & State 		22-4 	91 	17
15. Augustana (S.D.) 			22-5 	80 	19
16. Stonehill (Mass.) 			23-4 	75 	18
17. Rollins (Fla.) 			22-5 	63 	13
18. West Virginia State 		24-3 	53 	21
19. Bentley (Mass.) 			22-5 	43 	14
20. Clark Atlanta (Ga.) 		22-5 	42 	20
21. Western Washington 			24-5 	40 	24
22. Drury (Mo.) 			23-5 	33 	22
23. Mesa State (Colo.) 			22-4 	31 	23
24. St. Cloud State (Minn.) 		22-5 	29 	16
25. Central Oklahoma 			22-5 	15 	NR

Dropped out: Kutztown (25)
Others receiving votes: Metropolitan State (Colo.) 11, Bellarmine (Ky.) 6, Mount Olive (N.C.) 5, St.
Augustine’s (N.C.) 5, East Stroudsburg (Pa.) 4, Kutztown (Pa.) 1.
*Records are through games of Feb. 28, 2010; previous ranking is from Feb. 23 poll.

--Courtesy ASU Athletics

Tech’s ascension to the top spot in the national rankings came about thanks to the Wonder Boys wins last week over Henderson State (87-66) and Harding (82-71) and previous No. 1 Augusta State’s 81-75 loss this past Saturday at then No. 11 ranked Valdosta State.

The Wonder Boys, who earned 199 points and seven out of a possible eight first place votes this week, becomes the first Gulf South Conference team to headline the NABC/Division II Poll since Delta State was ranked No. 1 in 2006. The Statesmen held the top spot in the poll for two weeks from Feb. 28 until March 6 that year. The longest a GSC school has been ranked No. 1 was Montevallo, who held onto the top spot three times on two separate occasions (11/29/05-12/13/05 and 1/10/06-1/24/06).

Tech, who is 16-0 on the season following its two victories last week, is one of two GSC squads ranked in this week’s No. 10 as Valdosta State (16-2) jumped three spots to No. 8 after its upset win over Augusta State. In addition to Tech and Valdosta State, Delta State, who the Wonder Boys play host to on Saturday at Tucker Coliseum, earned one vote in this week’s poll.

Following Tech in the poll this week is Kutztown (14-0) at No. 2 and Minnesota State (16-0) jumps one spot to No. 3. Southern Indiana (16-0) leaps one spot to No. 4 and Fort Hays State (15-1), who earned the other first place vote, moves up one spot to No. 5 this week.

The next five in the poll begins with Augusta State (14-1) at No. 6 and the Jaguars are followed by Central Missouri (15-1) at No. 7 and Valdosta State at No. 8. Indiana [PA] (13-1) jumps three spots to No. 9 and Quincy [IL] (15-0) leaps four spots to No. 10 this week.

Midwestern State (14-1) falls four spots to No. 11 and the Mustangs are followed by Seattle Pacific (12-2) at No. 12 and Kentucky Wesleyan (17-2) falls three spots to No. 13. Bentley (14-2) jumps three spots to No. 14, while Western Washington (16-2) moves up four spots to No. 15 and Florida Southern (14-2) falls seven spots to No. 16. Mesa State (13-1) advances four spots to No. 17, while Montevallo (13-1) falls five spots to No. 18, Drury (13-3) jumps three spots to No. 19 and Rollins [FL] (12-3) moves up three spots to round out this week’s Top 20 at No. 20.

The final five teams in this week’s rankings are West Virginia State (11-1) at No. 21, Metro State (13-2) returns to this week’s poll at No. 22 and Augustana [SD] (14-2) falls five spots to No. 23. Southwest Baptist (15-4) falls eight spots to No. 24 and East Stroudsburg [PA] (14-1) drops one spot to No. 25 to round out this week’s poll.

Tech will put its No. 1 ranking to the test on Thursday, Jan. 21 when the Wonder Boys travel to Arkadelphia, Ark., to face Ouachita Baptist (4-12 overall, 0-3 GSC) in an 8 p.m. contest at Vining Arena. Following Thursday’s game, Tech will return home to play host to Delta State (12-3, 3-0 GSC) in a 6 p.m. contest at Tucker Coliseum on Saturday, Jan. 23.

–Courtesy ATU Athletics