SAN MARCOS – Palomar men’s and women’s basketball teams advanced to the California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A) playoffs, with both teams set to host Game 1 on Feb. 25 in the Dome.

The women will take on Pasadena City at 5 p.m. and the men’s game will follow, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. against Bakersfield.

Each team needs to win three straight playoff games to move forward to the 3C2A state championships.

The Comets’ women capped off their season on a high note on Feb. 20, defeating the previously undefeated MiraCosta Spartans in a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback. With the victory, the women moved up in the state rankings from 18th to 12th, giving them home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

In 2025, the Palomar women advanced to the quarterfinals of the 3C2A state championships but were eliminated by College of the Sequoias.

If the women defeat Pasadena City on Feb. 25, their next game will be a rematch against the Spartans on Feb. 28 at MiraCosta. This would be their third meeting of the season with each team having won on its home court.

Unlike the women, the men lost in their final game on Feb. 20 to this season’s conference champion San Diego City, initially leaving the Comets’ playoff status uncertain as the 3C2A decided the playoff qualifiers.

Not only did the Palomar men’s team qualify for the postseason, it also earned home-court advantage in the first round.

The Comet men will be one of three teams from the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference to compete in the playoffs along with San Diego City and Southwestern.

This is the second year in a row that the men have progressed to the postseason, but their time was cut short in 2025 after being knocked out in Round 1.

The men’s and women’s journeys to the 3C2A basketball playoffs may differ, but they will start the same, with a blank slate and a home crowd behind them.