INDIANAPOLIS- In the second edition of the NCAA's region rankings, Carson-Newman is ranked fourth in the Southeast Region as announced Wednesday afternoon.
The selection committee uses these rankings as a guideline to make up the NCAA Tournament field. The top eight teams in the region make the NCAA Tournament with three automatic bids going to the winners of the conference tournaments from the South Atlantic Conference, Conference Carolinas and the Peach Belt Conference. The other five spots will consist of at-large bids.
For the No. 1 team in the region, that school gets to host the Southeast Region tournament from March 15-19. Three wins are needed to advance to the National Quarterfinals which will be played March 25-29.
Carson-Newman is one of five South Atlantic Conference schools listed in the region rankings. All five are in the top six as well. Catawba is listed number one in the region with a 20-4 overall record. Anderson follows in behind at second with a 19-7 record. Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne are just behind Carson-Newman in the fifth and sixth spots respectively.
Sandwiched between SAC schools is Peach Belt member Georgia Southwestern, who is third in the region with a 19-3 record. Spots seven through nine are also occupied by PBC schools, Augusta, Columbus State and Lander in that order. The only team from Conference Carolinas ranked is Francis Marion at ten. With no CC teams in the top eight, Columbus State, despite being eighth in the rankings, would be the first team out because the rankings do not factor the automatic bid from the Conference Carolinas.
Among the teams regionally ranked, C-N has played ten games against those teams and is 6-4.
The Lady Eagles see their RPI drop two spots, from third to fifth after a 1-1 week. C-N has played the fifth toughest schedule in the Southeast region and is 19-7 in those contests. Its performance indicator is 28.926, seventh best in the region.
The Lady Eagles wrap up the regular season on Saturday when it hosts Mars Hill for Senior Day at 2:00 p.m. Broadcast coverage can be found on 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and cneagles.com/live starting at 1:45.
