KANSAS CITY – The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team is ranked 20th in the final 2012-13 regular-season NABC/Division II men's basketball poll.
USC Aiken is the only Peach Belt Conference team ranked in the latest national poll. West Liberty is the current national No. 1.
The ranking marks the first national ranking for USC Aiken since the Pacers were ranked 23rd in the 11th-regular-season poll of the 2011-12 season on Feb. 14, 2012.
USC Aiken has been in the top-25 for at least one week in five of the last six seasons.
The Peach Belt Conference regular-season and tournament champion USC Aiken men's basketball team will host the 2013 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Southeast Regional at the Convocation Center.
USC Aiken (22-7) will be hosting the regional for the first time. It will be the second time the Pacers will be the No. 1 seed in the region as they were the top seed in the 2008 regional.
The regional will take place Saturday, March 16-Tuesday, March 19. The tournament will feature four quarterfinal games on Saturday and two semifinal games on Sunday.
The championship game will be on Tuesday.
The top-seeded Pacers will face eighth-seeded Belmont Abbey (22-9) in the regional quarterfinals at 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 16. The winner of the USC Aiken-Belmont Abbey game will face the winner of the fourth-seeded Wingate-fifth-seeded Limestone game in the semifinal round.
The other side of the bracket includes quarterfinal matchups featuring third-seeded Barton taking on sixth-seeded Montevallo and second-seeded Lincoln Memorial facing off against seventh-seeded UNC Pembroke.
The Pacers commence hosting the Southeast Regional coming off their third Peach Belt Conference Tournament title in program history (1993, 2010 and 2013).
The 2013 Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship continues a tremendous run for the Pacers over the past six years. Since the 2007-08 season, USC Aiken has claimed three league regular-season championships (2007-08, 2011-12 and 2012-13) and two tournament titles (2010 and 2013).
NABC/Division II Coaches Poll (March 12, 2013 – Regular season poll #15, Final poll)
1. West Liberty, W.Va. (16 first place votes)
2. Seattle Pacific, Wash.
3. Metropolitan State, Colo.
4. Western Washington
5. Cal Poly Pomona
6. Minnesota State
7. Drury, Mo.
8. Florida Southern
9. Alabama-Huntsville
10. Indiana, Pa.
11. Saint Anselm, N.H.
12. Benedict, S.C.
13. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn.
14. Bellarmine, Ky.
15. Southern Indiana
16. Winston-Salem State, N.C.
17. Saint Leo, Fla.
18. Dixie State, Utah
19. Fort Lewis, Colo.
20. USC Aiken
21. Wisconsin-Parkside
22. Findlay, Ohio
23. St. Mary's, Texas
24. Augustana, S.D.
25. Wingate, N.C.
