Happy Monday!
Congratulations to the following teams that made the NCAA Division II National Tournament:
• The Northeastern RiverHawks. They grabbed an at-large bid after falling in the first round of the MIAA Tournament. NSU is the No. 7 seed in the Central Region and will take on second-seeded Winona State in Mankato, Minn., on Wednesday night.
Northeastern (24-7, 17-5) finished third in the MIAA, after being picked by both the media and the coaches as the No. 14 team in a 15-team league. The RiverHawks have done more than enough to silence any preseason critics.
• The Southwestern Lady Dawgs. Southwestern got an at-large bid to the D-II Women’s Tournament. SWOSU (23-6, 16-4) had a great season, finishing second in the GAC and lost a heartbreaker to Arkansas Tech in overtime in the GAC Tournament Championship on Sunday.
This the first bid to the D-II Tournament for Southwestern.
SWOSU will play its Central Region games in Topeka, Kan.
• The Cameron Aggies. It is also the first bid to the D-II Tournament in school history for the Aggies. Cameron (18-8, 13-5) is the No. 7 seed, taking on No. 2 St. Mary’s in the South Central Region on Wednesday in Denver, Colo.
CU earned the second seed in the LSC Tournament, but was upset by West Texas A&M in the first round.
• More props go out to the Oklahoma Christian men and the Southern Nazarene women, who will continue to the national level of the NCCAA Tournament, though each fell in the Central Region of the Tournament. At-large bids went out to the OC men, with a 17-11 record, and SNU women, at 18-10.
• As the news came in throughout the weekend of tournament bids being handed out, I was probably the most disappointed for the NSU women. The RiverHawks were 19-7 and 14-4 in the tough MIAA. NSU tied Central Missouri for second in the league and were the third seed in the conference tournament, but lost to Fort Hays State in the first round. Maybe one more tournament win would have been enough…
As it stands, the RiverHawks had a great season and deserve just a little more recognition.