NORTHERN CALIFORNIA PLAYOFFS BRACKET

With identical 11-3 conference records, College of the Sequoias and Columbia College are 2023-24 Central Valley Conference men's basketball co-champions. The conference crown marks the fifth straight for COS while Columbia captured its first CVC title since the 2019-20 season.

The two squads both wrapped up the regular season with 23-5 overall record and split their two conference matchups this season. In the CVC opener on Jan. 10, Columbia prevailed at home in overtime by a final score of 83-80. But on Feb. 3, COS got its revenge with a 75-62 victory in Visalia.

Fresno City College finished just a game back of earning a share of the title. The Rams were third at 10-4, followed by Merced College (9-5), and West Hills College Lemoore (7-7). Porterville College and Reedley College ended tied for sixth place at 3-11 with West Hills College Coalinga rounding out the final CVC standings with a 2-12 mark.

Sequoias, Columbia, Fresno, Merced, and West Hills Lemoore all earned spots in the upcoming Northern California Regional Playoffs that get underway Wednesday night (Feb. 28) with opening-round games.

COS was the conference's top seed, getting the No. 3 spot in the tourney. As a top-8 seed, the Giants receive a first-round bye and will host the winner of No. 14 Santa Rosa Junior College and No. 19 College of San Mateo in a second-round game on Saturday (March 2).

Columbia was named the No. 9 seed and will host No. 24 Cañada College (11-17) in an opening-round contest.

No. 10 Fresno (17-11) faces No. 23 Ohlone College (14-14) at home in Round 1. Merced (21-7), seeded 11th, hosts No. 22 College of the Redwoods (17-11). West Hills Lemoore will be making its second postseason appearance in its short program history. The Golden Eagles are the No. 13 seed and play host to No. 20 San Joaquin Delta College (15-13) in a first-round contest.

Teams are looking to advance to the 3C2A State Championships on March 14-17 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut.