Basketball National Tournament Fields Released
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Cascade Collegiate Conference will be sending seven representatives to the NAIA Div. 2 National Tournaments which begin March 7.
The CCC is sending three women’s teams to the national tournament for only the third time in conference history, and first since 2009. Corban, College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon all qualified for the 21st annual event at the Tyson Center in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Warriors (23-7) remained No. 10 in the country in the final regular season Top 25 poll, which was also released Wednesday. C of I (22-8) climbed from No. 20 to No. 16 after winning the conference tournament. Eastern (23-8) moved up one spot to No. 24.
Corban received the conference’s first automatic berth following its outright regular season title. College of Idaho received the second automatic berth from it playing the Warriors in the conference tournament championships. The Mountaineers received the eighth at-large berth.
The GPAC landed five squads in the National Championship field: Briar Cliff (Iowa), Concordia (Neb.), Hastings Morningside and Northwestern. The following leagues/independents will be represented by three schools: Association of Independent Institutions, Cascade Collegiate Conference, Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference and Mid-Central College Conference.
On the men’s side, the CCC was one of three conferences to land a quartet of qualifiers in the field. The Cascade Conference has qualified four teams to the national tournament for the fourth straight season and fifth out of the past six seasons. This year’s qualifiers are identical to those in 2011.
Oregon Tech, Northwest, Warner Pacific and Eastern Oregon return to Point Lookout, Missouri, and Keeter Gymnasium for the 21st annual tournament. The Owls (29-4) received the CCC’s first automatic berth from their regular season title. Co-conference regular season champion, NU makes the field after qualifying for the CCC tournament championship game. The Knights (23-7) received the second at-large berth and EOU was awarded the 10th and final at-large berth.
Tech rose to No. 2 from No. 3 in the final regular season poll. Northwest (27-4) moved up one spot to No. 8 in the poll. WPC dropped to No. 16, and Eastern (19-10) was two spots out of the top 25.
NeuLion is the NAIA's Digital Media Partner and official video-streaming company of 10 select NAIA National Championship events. The first 30 games from both tournaments will be available via live video stream for $29.95 and any single day can be purchased for $9.95. Also, one can purchase the all-tournament package of all four basketball tournaments for $49.95. For more information and to pre-register, click here.
The National Championship final on March 13 will be televised live nationally on CBS Sports Network with the men’s game beginning at 6 p.m. CST and the women’s game tipping off at 8 p.m. CST.
Full women’s poll HERE
Full men’s poll HERE
Full women’s field HERE
Full men’s field HERE