BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men’s basketball team is listed No. 4 in the first published NCAA Division II West Regional rankings, announced today by the NCAA Division II Basketball Committee.

The rankings help decide the 8 teams that will be selected to play in the 2017 NCAA Division II West Regional held on a campus site to be determined March 11-14, 2017. The Great Northwest Athletic Conference, CCAA and PacWest all have automatic berths via their conference tournament.

Regional polls will be announced again on Feb. 22 and March 1, leading up to selection Sunday, streamed live on NCAA.com on March 5 at 7:30 pm PT.

WWU is 18-3 against West Region opponents, with victories over No. 2 UC San Diego (104-81 in San Diego on Dec. 12), No. 6 Sonoma State (72-64 on Nov. 11) and No. 9 Alaska Anchorage (91-84 on Jan. 7).

Western has also been present in the NABC Coaches Poll throughout the season, moving to as high as No. 12 and currently at No. 20 in the nation.

The No. 20 Vikings (19-5, 13-3 GNAC) are tied for 1st place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with four regular-season games remaining. WWU travels to face rival Central Washington (Thursday, 8 pm, ROOT SPORTS) and Northwest Nazarene (Saturday, 7 pm MT) this week.

Here is a look at the West Region rankings, and a link to the additional seven Division II regional rankings:

-- @WWUHoops --