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The Division II NCAA Tournament determined their Final Four tonight.
There are a number of interesting connections to the MVC.
First, the tournament is being played at the Ford Center in Evansville, which is the home court of the Evansville Aces.
Here is the bracket, and a list of the Final Four teams-
West Texas A&M- From Canyon, Texas. They won the Lone Star Conference Tournament, and have advanced to the Final Four with wins over Dallas Baptist, Lubbock Christian, and Daemen. They are 18-2
MVC Connections: Note that of the teams they beat on the way to the Final Four, Dallas Baptist has been an affiliate member of the Missouri Valley Conference since 2013, and competes in MVC Baseball. Also, some fans might remember Lubbock Christian. The D2 team was added the Las Vegas tournament that Bradley was in back in Nov., 2003 when another participant dropped out and the tournament organizers were desperate to add one more team. Bradley beat 2 other teams in the tournament, Northeastern, and University of Miami (FL), but they lost to Lubbock Christian! Lubbock Christian was a pretty good D2 team, but it was still an embarrassing loss for Bradley.
And West Texas A&M themselves used to be a member of the MVC from 1972 to 1986. Back then, they were a Division I school and were known as the West Texas State University Buffalos. In the 14 years they were members, Bradley's record against them was 19-9. After the 1985-86 season, they left the MVC and dropped down to Division II.
Northwest Missouri State- from Maryville, Missouri- they are now 26-2
Lincoln Memorial University- from Harrogate, Tennessee. They are 19-3, and have had a long record of success.
MVC Connection: They are playing without their head coach Josh Schertz, because he has already left to take the head coaching job at Indiana State University, replacing Greg Lansing. Another MVC connection.
Flagler College- They are from St. Augustine, FL, and they are 18-2.
One other MVC connection- one of the key players for Flagler is guard Marcus Henderson, who transferred to Flagler from Evansville after spending his freshman year (2019-20) with the Aces. He's averaging 10.3 ppg.
The semifinals will be played Thursday PM, March 25, and the championship game is Saturday, March 27, at 11:00 AM (Central)
Note: Division III cancelled their plans for a 2021 postseason tournament because so many D3 schools opted out for the 2020-21 season. It will hopefully resume in 2022.
The 2021 NAIA Tournament is completed already. The Championship was won by Shawnee State University (Portsmouth, Ohio)
Bracket- https://d2o2figo6ddd0g.cloudfront.ne...BB_Bracket.pdf
There are a number of interesting connections to the MVC.
First, the tournament is being played at the Ford Center in Evansville, which is the home court of the Evansville Aces.
Here is the bracket, and a list of the Final Four teams-
West Texas A&M- From Canyon, Texas. They won the Lone Star Conference Tournament, and have advanced to the Final Four with wins over Dallas Baptist, Lubbock Christian, and Daemen. They are 18-2
MVC Connections: Note that of the teams they beat on the way to the Final Four, Dallas Baptist has been an affiliate member of the Missouri Valley Conference since 2013, and competes in MVC Baseball. Also, some fans might remember Lubbock Christian. The D2 team was added the Las Vegas tournament that Bradley was in back in Nov., 2003 when another participant dropped out and the tournament organizers were desperate to add one more team. Bradley beat 2 other teams in the tournament, Northeastern, and University of Miami (FL), but they lost to Lubbock Christian! Lubbock Christian was a pretty good D2 team, but it was still an embarrassing loss for Bradley.
And West Texas A&M themselves used to be a member of the MVC from 1972 to 1986. Back then, they were a Division I school and were known as the West Texas State University Buffalos. In the 14 years they were members, Bradley's record against them was 19-9. After the 1985-86 season, they left the MVC and dropped down to Division II.
Northwest Missouri State- from Maryville, Missouri- they are now 26-2
Lincoln Memorial University- from Harrogate, Tennessee. They are 19-3, and have had a long record of success.
MVC Connection: They are playing without their head coach Josh Schertz, because he has already left to take the head coaching job at Indiana State University, replacing Greg Lansing. Another MVC connection.
Flagler College- They are from St. Augustine, FL, and they are 18-2.
One other MVC connection- one of the key players for Flagler is guard Marcus Henderson, who transferred to Flagler from Evansville after spending his freshman year (2019-20) with the Aces. He's averaging 10.3 ppg.
The semifinals will be played Thursday PM, March 25, and the championship game is Saturday, March 27, at 11:00 AM (Central)
Note: Division III cancelled their plans for a 2021 postseason tournament because so many D3 schools opted out for the 2020-21 season. It will hopefully resume in 2022.
The 2021 NAIA Tournament is completed already. The Championship was won by Shawnee State University (Portsmouth, Ohio)
Bracket- https://d2o2figo6ddd0g.cloudfront.ne...BB_Bracket.pdf