UNANIMOUS AT THE TOP: The College of Idaho men's basketball team received all 20 first-place votes to remain No. 1 in the latest 2022-23 NAIA Men's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll announced on February 22. The Yotes have been in the top spot for the last four (unanimous in the last two) rankings and in the top four for the entire season to date. This is the longest in program history that College of Idaho has spent at the top spot in the poll. College of Idaho has been ranked in the last 14 polls, dating back to the preseason poll in 2021-22. The final ranking was announced on Wednesday, February 22.
SEVEN STRAIGHT at 1K in the JAAC: College of Idaho currently leads the NAIA in attendance with an average of 1,340 fans per game. For the last seven games crowds in the J.A. Albertson Activity Center have exceeded the 1,000 mark. Since 2013-14, with the exception of 2020-21 due to CoVID, College of Idaho has averaged over 1,000 fans per game.
PLAYOFF BASKETBALL: Saturday will be the semifinal of the Cascade Conference Championships – as four teams will compete for the league's second automatic bid to the NAIA Championships. It is the 25th-straight season the Yotes have advanced to the playoffs and their 40th postseason appearance in 41 years. C of I has an 96-55 all-time playoff record, including a 39-17 mark in the CCC Championships. C of I has played 67 all-time postseason games at home (between Kirkpatrick Gym, O'Connor Fieldhouse and the Activities Center), posting a 57-10 all-time record.
CCC TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL HISTORY: Dating back to its first appearance in the CCC Tournament, College of Idaho enters Friday's semifinal with a 11-7 record with a 3-1 mark against Corban. The Yotes enter the semifinals having won its last four appearances. College of Idaho has played in 11 CCC Tournament Championship games - 2022, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2015, 2014, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2001 and 1996.
HOSTING NAIA OPENING ROUND: The College of Idaho and the J.A. Albertson Activities Center was selected as one of 16 sites for the upcoming NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship Opening Round, presented by Ballogy, set for March 7-8. The Caldwell bracket will be announced on March 2, with semifinal games set for March 7 and the bracket championship on March 8. Other host sites inlcude Alexandria, La. (LSU Alexandria), Butte, Mont. (Montana Tech), Fort Wayne, Ind. (Indiana Tech), Glendale, Ariz. (Arizona Christian), Henderson, Tenn. (Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.), Jamestown, N.D., Lakeland, Fla. (Southeastern Univ.), Langston, Okla., Montgomery, Ala. (Faulkner), New Orleans, La. (Loyola (La.), Oskaloosa, Iowa (William Penn (Iowa), Park City, Kan. (KCAC), Wichita, Kan. (KCAC) and Winona Lake, Ind. (Grace (Ind.).
JUST WIN BABY: With 28-straight wins, College of Idaho has moved ahead of NCAA Division III Saint Joseph (Conn.) for the longest active winning streak in college men's basketball. As of Feb. 23, a pair of women's basketball programs - South Carolina (NCAA Division I) and Ashland (NCAA Division II) are both 27-0.
WIN STREAKS BY THE NUMBERS:
34 – at home
33 – against CCC foes
12 – College of Idaho has won its last 12 CCC Tournament games (not including the 2020-21 Best-of-3 series with LC State), dating back to the 2016-17 season. The last loss was in the 2017 CCC Tournament semifinals to Oregon Tech, 75-69.
7 – against Corban
25-WIN SEASONS: The win over Bushnell on Feb. 11 secured the Coyotes their 14th 25-win season in program history. C of I has recorded 28 20-win season in program history and the eighth 20-win season in the last decade, while recording five 30-win seasons (1996, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022).
NATIONAL BERTH: The regular-season title also clinched the Yotes an automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships – with C of I one of 64 teams who will begin play at 16 Opening Round sites on March 7. It is the Coyotes 25th all-time trip to Nationals – 10 to the NAIA Tournament and 15 trips to the NAIA Division II Tournament. The Yotes have advanced to the national quarterfinals six times (1988, 1989, 1993, 2001, 2015, 2022), the national semifinals twice (2018, 2019) and won the 1996 NAIA Division II National Championships.
IS THERE AN AREA CODE? College of Idaho has made 264 3-pointers on the 2022-23 season. Nine-different Yotes have hit a three pointer on the season with
Johnny Radford knocking down a team-high 86 of 178 (48.3%) of his attempts. For his career, Radford has made 158 3-pointers which ranks 10th in program history. He is the 32nd different Coyote to make over 100 3-pointers. He made a season-high and career-high six 3 pointers against Walla Walla (Jan. 28) and earlier this season against Corban (Jan. 14).
Next on the list
8. 168 - Gibson Berryhill (2015-19)
9. 160 - Andy Harper (2002-04)
