USC Aiken Moves Up to 18th in Latest National Poll
LILBURN, Ga. – The University of South Carolina Aiken women's basketball team continued its upward progression in the national poll, moving up to 18th in the latest USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll.
USC Aiken is one of three Peach Belt Conference teams ranked in the top 25 with Lander second and Clayton State currently ranked fifth.
The Pacers had been ranked 25th in the final poll of the 2010 calendar year. They were ranked in a tie for 22nd in the first poll of the 2011 portion of the 2010-11 season.
The ranking of 25th in the Dec. 14 poll was the first for the USC Aiken women's basketball team since the Feb. 3, 2009 poll. The Pacers were ranked in the first ten polls of the 2008-09 season, reaching as high as a program-best seventh in the Dec. 2, 2008 poll.
USC Aiken has been in the top 25 for at least one week in three of the last four seasons.
Prior to being ranked in the 2007-08 preseason poll, USC Aiken had last appeared in a national poll on Dec. 12, 2002 when they were 20th. The Pacers dropped out the following week, ending a string of 16 straight polls appeared in at the time dating back to 2001.
USC Aiken has two games in the upcoming week, beginning with a road game against Francis Marion at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 12.
At the end of the week, the eyes of the college basketball nation will be upon the Convocation Center with the 18th-ranked USC Aiken women playing host to a nationally-televised top 20 showdown with No. 5 Clayton State at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 15.
The USC Aiken athletic department wants to "Pack the House" for USC Aiken's nationally-televised contest with Clayton State.
The noon tip-off on Saturday, Jan. 15 from the Convocation Center is part of Division II and CBS College Sports teaming up to televise a total of 10 men's and women's 2011 Division II basketball games of the week beginning Saturday, Jan. 8.
In addition to appearing on CBS College Sports, the game also will available through NCAA Productions syndication affiliates (such as regional sports networks and local TV stations) and will be videostreamed concurrently on NCAA.com. CBS College Sports Network is the original 24-hour cable network dedicated to capturing the passion of college sports.
CBS College Sports is available throughout the nation in 94 million homes. The CBS College Sports network is carried on Channel 613 by Directv and Channel 152 by Dish Network.
To learn more about CBS College Sports network, please visit http://www.cbscollegesports.com/. The official website of CBS College Sports has a special channel finder tab on the top right side that tells you if CBS College Sports is carried by the cable or satellite provider in your area. It also includes a schedule tab at the top that allows you to see the schedule of the events on CBS College Sports: http://www.cbscollegesports.com/schedule/.
The nationally-televised game is part of a Peach Belt Conference men's and women's basketball doubleheader at the Convocation Center with the 13th-ranked Pacer men scheduled to take on Clayton State immediately following the women's game at approximately 2:30 p.m.
To help accomplish the goal of "Packing the House" and having the Convocation Center completely sold out, the USC Aiken athletic department is pre-selling 2,500 tickets to the game. Tickets are being sold for a special discount rate of just $2.
The men's game unfortunately will not be televised and to follow the action live for the men's game one must be in attendance for both the men's and the women's games on Saturday, Jan. 15. Live stats will be available for the men's game, but a webcast will not due to the NCAA agreement with CBS.
For tickets to the nationally-televised game, please come by the USC Aiken athletic department from 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday of this week. You can also call the USC Aiken athletic department at (803) 641-3486.
 |  |
