The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Basketball team has been ranked #1 in the East Region in the latest NCAA Division II Men's Basketball poll, released on Wednesday afternoon. Following STAC's sweep of contests last week over Molloy University and Queens College, the Spartans earned their seventh East Coast Conference Regular Season crown since 2015 (2015, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and now holds an impressive 22-5 overall record and a 13-2 mark in the conference, as the team wraps up regular season play and prepares for the upcoming ECC Tournament.

Around the ECC, Daemen University holds the #6 position in this week's table, with no other conference teams cracking the top 10.

Eight teams will be represent the East Region in this season's NCAA Tournament, with automatic bids going to tournament champions from the East Coast Conference (ECC), Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), and the Northeast-10 Conference (NE10), and the remaining five berths being awarded on an at-large basis. Saint Michael's College (NE10) also sits atop this week's poll with the Spartans, with Post University (CACC) and Bentley University (NE10) rounding out the top four.

STAC closes out its 2023-2024 regular season schedule at Mercy University on Saturday, March 2 (5:00 p.m.). The maroon and gold have already earned a bye into the semifinal round of the ECC Men's Basketball Tournament, which will be held at Aquinas Hall Gym on March 9-10. Following the crowning of a champion by the ECC, NCAA brackets and locations will be announced for regional tournament play, which takes place March 16-19, with the Elite Eight to be held from March 26-30 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.

NCAA Division II Men's Basketball East Region Rankings (Games Through Feb. 25)