INDIANAPOLIS- In the final edition of the NCAA's region rankings before Sunday's selection show, Carson-Newman dropped one spot to fifth in the Southeast Region rankings as announced yesterday.
This ranking does not factor in C-N's 82-75 victory over Anderson in the SAC semifinals on Wednesday afternoon.
Carson-Newman is one of five South Atlantic Conference schools listed in the region rankings, all of which are in the top six as well. Catawba stays number one in the region with a 22-4 overall record. The big move in the standings comes from Lenoir-Rhyne who climbs four spots after a comeback victory over Wingate last week. The Bears move to second with a 21-7 record. Anderson, who just lost to C-N in the SAC quarterfinals is fourth, right in front of the Lady Eagles. Wingate is the fifth SAC school listed at number six.
Sandwiched between SAC schools is Peach Belt member Georgia Southwestern, who is third in the region with a 21-3 record. Augusta stays put at seven while Francis Marion slides up two spots to number eight. Columbus State and Lander finish out the top ten.
Among the teams regionally ranked, C-N has played eleven games against those teams and is 7-4.
Carson-Newman RPI drops one spot to number six after starting out with the third best. C-N has played the third toughest schedule in the Southeast region and is 20-7 in those contests. Its performance indicator increases to 29.607, seventh best in the region.
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.
The Lady Eagles compete in the South Atlantic Conference Quarterfinals later today against Lenoir-Rhyne. Broadcast coverage can be found on 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and cneagles.com/live starting at 2:15. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports.