INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – After wrapping up the regular season as the five seed for the South Atlantic Conference tournament championships, Carson-Newman's softball program finds itself in fifth in the second iteration of the Southeast Region rankings. 

Should that ranking hold, Carson-Newman would be sitting pretty to make a 17^th NCAA tournament appearance. 

The conference tournament champions from the South Atlantic Conference, Peach Belt and Conference Carolinas combined with the top five teams from the region rankings go on to make up the Southeast Regional.

Carson-Newman is one of six South Atlantic Conference schools listed.  Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne sit in second and third.  Lincoln Memorial sits seventh. Catawba is in eighth, while Newberry is on the outside looking in in 10^th. 

The PeachBelt and Conference Carolinas both have two schools apiece.  North Georgia and Columbus State represent the PBC in first and fourth.  Francis Marion and King are the CC schools in sixth and ninth, respectively. 

Carson-Newman is 6-5 against Southeast Region ranked opponents – with wins over LR, CSU, LMU, Catawba (2) and Newberry. 

The Eagles also own wins over Ohio Dominican (fifth in the Midwest), Maryville (seventh in the Midwest) and Mississippi College (fifth in the South). 

Carson-Newman's positioning is buoyed by its strength of schedule.  The Eagles .549 SOS is tied for the second-highest among regionally ranked schools with Wingate.  Only LMU's .567 mark is better. 

The Eagles don't have any losses this year to a team with a record below .500.  Their .577 RPI is fourth in the region. 

C-N has nine wins over regionally-ranked foes, tied for the third-most in the region. 

The Eagles start their SAC tournament run Thursday against Newberry at 1 p.m.