PHOENIX - The University of New Orleans men's swimming and diving team equaled their highest ranking in school history as the CollegeSwimming.com/CSCAA Mid-Major Division I poll placed the Privateers ninth, it was announced on Tuesday afternoon.

The men's squad was ranked as high as No. 9 during the 2008-09 season before finishing the year as the No. 12 ranked mid-major squad in the country.

Head coach Randy Horner has watched as his team has posted several of the highest marks in school history while contesting nationally recognized programs in Stanford and LSU.

On the women's side, UNO was in the 'also receiving votes category'. The Privateer women set a school-record last year when they entered the poll for the first time with a No. 23 ranking, a spot they held through the end of the season.

Though not in the top 25, the women are one of just four Sun Belt teams listed. If the rankings held to form at the conference meet, a fourth place finish would be an all-time high for the squad.

The SBC as a whole ranked very high amongst mid-majors, placing three teams in the top 10 on the men's side of the poll with Western Kentucky at No. 3 and Denver at No. 6 joining UNO.

WKU and DU also rank in the top 10 amongst women's teams with the Hilltoppers at No. 4 and Pioneers at No. 10.

The Mid-Major poll is available to those institutions that are not members of a Bowl Championship Series conference, Mountain West Conference, or Western Athletic Conference. Poll members could fall under another category, in which they provide fewer than one-half of the allowable scholarships under the NCAA rules.

The next poll will be released by CollegeSwimming.com and the CSCAA on Dec. 23.

A full ranking is available at http://www.collegeswimming.com/news/2009/nov/17/navy-men-boston-women-lead-mid-major-ranks/