Three SAC Men’s Teams, Two Women’s Programs Earn NCAA Basketball Championship Selections
The NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship brackets were unveiled Sunday night, with three SAC men’s teams and two women’s teams earning selections.
INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Basketball Championship brackets were unveiled Sunday night, with three SAC men's teams and two women's teams earning selections.
Leading the SAC's representation in the men's southeast region bracket is No. 2 seed Lincoln Memorial, winners of both the SAC regular-season and tournament championships. LMU is 27-2 overall – including Sunday's SAC title game victory over Anderson – and went 20-2 in the conference.
Anderson - after finishing one win shy of a SAC Tournament title - earned an at-large selection in the NCAA Championship field and will be the region's No. 4 seed. The Trojans are 22-9 overall and went 15-7 in the SAC.
Carson-Newman also earned an at-large selection into the bracket, where they will be the region's No. 7 seed. Despite being upset in the SAC Championship quarterfinals, C-N carries a 19-8 overall record and posted a 16-6 league mark.
LMU and Carson-Newman will face off on Saturday in the event's first round, while Anderson will play GRU Augusta. All games of the regional will be at top-seeded S.C. Aiken.
The women's southeast region field is headlined by top-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne, which will serve as the host institution. The Bears enter the tournament 24-6 overall, and won a share of the SAC regular-season title by going 17-5 in conference play.
Lenoir-Rhyne fell on Sunday afternoon in the finals of the SAC Championship to Wingate, the NCAA regional's No. 3 seed. The Bulldogs are 24-5 overall and split the regular-season conference championship with L-R.
Lenoir-Rhyne will play eighth-seeded Armstrong and Wingate will be matched up against No. 6 seed Belmont Abbey on Friday in the first round of regional play.