INDIANAPOLIS (March 4) – The California (PA) men's basketball team climbed one position to fifth in the latest ranked-order list of the NCAA Atlantic regional rankings, which were released on Wednesday afternoon.

The NCAA regional rankings determine the participants for the NCAA Tournament. The Atlantic Region consists of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), Mountain East Conference (MEC) and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). All three conference tournament champions receive an automatic bid with the top-five remaining teams in the final regional rankings earning at-large bids.

The top-three teams in the rankings remain unchanged from last week, while the other seven slots were shuffled in the latest rankings. Gannon (26-2) remained the top-ranked team in the Atlantic Region after closing the regular season on a 13-game winning streak. West Liberty (24-4) continued to sit second despite suffering its first loss since Jan. 10 and Fairmont State (23-4) remained third. Fayetteville State (23-6) vaulted three positions to fourth after securing an automatic bid by winning the third CIAA Championship in program history.

Cal (19-8) climbed one spot to fifth despite splitting a pair of games, as its victory was against IUP (19-6), which dropped two positions to sixth. Virginia Union (21-5) fell two slots to seventh after losing in the quarterfinals of the CIAA Tournament. Charleston (WV) (19-8) climbed one position to eighth and will enter the MEC Tournament as the third seed. Millersville (19-8) debuted in the regional rankings after closing the regular season with an overtime win against West Chester (20-7), which dropped the Golden Rams to No. 10 in the rankings.

Note, rankings and records reflect games played through Sunday, March 1.

The Vulcans continue to boast one of the toughest strength of schedules in the region behind only Clarion and Gannon. The rankings do not reflect the results of any games played in the PSAC Tournament and MEC Tournament, which includes losses by regionally-ranked teams Millersville (ninth) and West Chester (No. 10) on Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the PSAC Tournament.

The final rankings and selections for the NCAA Tournament will be announced on Sunday, March 8, at 11 p.m. EST.