INDIANAPOLIS- In the second batch of the NCAA's region rankings, Carson-Newman is ranked 6th in the Southeast Region as announced by the NCAA on Wednesday evening.
Carson-Newman is one of four South Atlantic Conference schools in the region rankings. Coker is the highest rated SAC school in second, while Anderson and Wingate are below C-N at eight and nine, respectively.
The Peach Belt has the top rated team in the region, North Georgia. The Nighthawks are 23-2 this season. The only other PBC school is Columbus State, who checks in at fourth with a 17-7 mark.
Similar to the SAC, Conference Carolinas has four schools in the top ten of the rankings. The highest ranked CC school is Francis Marion at 20-5 overall this season. UNC Pembroke is one spot ahead of C-N in fifth, while Chowan and Belmont Abbey slot in at seventh and tenth.
Among the teams ranked in the top ten, C-N has played six games against those teams and is 3-3. The Lady Eagles still have a contest with Coker left in the regular season.
The Lady Eagles have the sixth best RPI at .573, just behind UNC Pembroke's .576 RPI. C-N's strength of schedule is .513. Carson-Newman has the fifth highest performance indicator at .197, 33rd highest among DII teams. Only Coker, Columbus State, North Georgia and UNC Pembroke have better performance indicators.
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 14-17. Three wins are needed to advance to the National Quarterfinals which will be played March 24-28 in Pittsburgh, PA at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
The NCAA will release region rankings every Wednesday leading up to the selection show on March 9, 2025.
The Lady Eagles aim for a sixth straight win this evening at Lincoln Memorial at 5:30 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 5:15 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
