INDIANAPOLIS – Carson-Newman is ranked third in the Southeast Region as the NCAA released the final rankings before the official selection show for the 2021 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championships announced on Wednesday.
"We are the regular season champ of our league," Carson-Newman coach Mike Mincey said. "It was a hard fought regular season with the games that we had to go on the road and we won some really tough games on the road against some teams ranked. We do have some losses against teams that I don't think are bad but their records don't show how good they can actually be. Do I feel like we a resume worthy of an NCAA Tournament? Yes I do."
Carson-Newman is the host site and institution for the regional with opening round games being played on Friday, March 12, followed by the semifinals Saturday, March 13, and the regional championship Monday, March 15. Winners will advance to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Elite Eight in Columbus, Ohio, on March 23-26.
This year's field has been condensed to 48 teams and the region is adjusted to accommodate equal participation numbers across the eight regions meaning the Peach Belt will participate in the South and the Southeast region is adding the SIAC.
The selection committee uses these rankings as a guideline to make up the NCAA Tournament field. The top six 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 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Belmont Abbey and Barton are the top two clubs in the rankings with each club advancing to the Conference Carolinas semifinals Thursday night.
The Lady Eagles are 9-1 this year against teams that having a winning record. Belmont Abbey is 10-2 otherwise no other club in the region has more than six wins against units at .500 or better. C-N is 3-0 against nationally-ranked units, the most victories without a loss. The Crusaders are 3-2, Barton is 2-1 and Tusculum is 2-2.
Tuskegee is ranked below the Orange and Blue sitting in fourth and are done for the season with a 12-1 record winning its final three games of the year. Only three of the 12 triumphs are against units with a winning record. Five of the team's wins are against clubs that combined to go 3-24 on the year.
Tusculum and Catawba are slotted fifth and sixth respectively and play in Greeneville, Tenn. on Thursday for a chance to go to the SAC Championship game. The Pioneers and Indians are ranked eight and nine respectively in the ratings percentage index.
Emmanuel checks in at No. 7 but lost in the opening round to sixth-seeded and 5-9 Mount Olive 63-59 on Tuesday night in the Conference Carolinas Quarterfinals. UVA Wise is the final team of the eight ranked but lost at home to Anderson to Anderson on Monday night in the SAC Quarterfinals and is 3-4 versus clubs with winning records.
The official NCAA selection show is scheduled for March 7 at 10 p.m. where the field and seeds will be announced on NCAA.com. Full coverage will be available on cneagles.com and on all of Carson-Newman's social media channels.
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