INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The Slippery Rock University men's basketball team made its first appearance of the season in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional rankings with a No. 9 spot on the list released Wednesday afternoon.

SRU took an 18-8 overall record into its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division game Wednesday night (7:30 p.m. tipoff) at Gannon University in Erie.

The Rock only got credit for 14 of the wins, though, since four of the Green and White's victories came against non-NCAA Division II rivals. Deducted from The Rock's win total were two triumphs over Ohio University Eastern Campus and one win each over Penn State Wilkes-Barre and NCAA Division III Grove City.

Earning an NCAA regional ranking is noteworthy in and of itself, but the No. 9 ranking takes on added importance in light of the fact the top eight teams on the final regional ranking will each earn a berth in the NCAA playoffs.

Helping The Rock's case for an NCAA berth are one win each over Mercyhurst and Mansfield, the No. 3 and No. 5 teams in this week's regional poll.

The NCAA playoffs begin the week of March 7-11.

Following Wednesday's game at Gannon, The Rock turns its attention to its final regular-season home game, a 3 p.m. date Saturday with Edinboro in Morrow Field House.

The Rock, which took an 8-4 PSAC-West record into Wednesday's game, are also assured of at least one PSAC tournament game. SRU has clinched the division's No. 3 berth in the playoffs and will travel to either Indiana (Pa.) or Mercyhurst Tuesday for a first-round game.

Indiana and Mercyhurst entered action Wednesday night tied for the top spot in the division standings and will meet head-on Saturday, potentially to determine the division champion. Both the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the division will host a first-round playoff game Tuesday.

The top seed in the PSAC-West also earns the right to host the conference semifinals and finals March 4 and 5.

Here is this week's NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional rankings:

Team	Overall D-II W-L record	In-Region W-L record
1. West Liberty State, W. Va.	24-0	24-0
2. Bowie State, Md.	21-4	21-4
3. Mercyhurst, Pa.	19-5	19-5
4. Indiana, Pa.	17-5	17-5
5. Mansfield, Pa.	16-7	16-7
6. Shaw, N.C.	17-7	17-7
7. Winston-Salem State, N.C.	15-6	13-6
8. West Virginia Wesleyan	15-8	15-8
9. SLIPPERY ROCK	14-8	14-8
10. Pittsburgh-Johnstown, Pa.	14-8	14-8