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NCAA Tournament: Four HBCUs get shot at D2 title

Fayetteville State NCAA

The Division II NCAA Tournament field is out, and teams from the CIAA and SIAC are represented as well as a D2 HBCU outside those conferences. 

CIAA Champion Fayetteville State will take on no. 1 seed and host IUP in the first round of the Atlantic Region. It is the lone CIAA team to make the field after two received bids in 2020. 

Fayetteville State finished the regular season 18-8, good for second in the CIAA South. It went into the CIAA Tournament as the top overall seed, however, due to the CIAA’s seeding criteria. It made the most of its chance at the NCAA Tournament, knocking off a talented Virginia Union squad 67-64 in the CIAA Championship Game to earn the autobid into the NCAA Tournament.

The SIAC, meanwhile, will get two bids in the Southern Regional.

SIAC Champion Savannah State will take on no. 1 seed Nova Southeastern as a no. 8 seed. Savannah State had an up-and-down season – finishing 12-13 in the regular season –  but it has gotten itself playing its best ball when it matters the most. SSU took down back-to-back 20-plus win teams in Morehouse and Benedict, both of whom had swept it in the regular season.

Miles will get a chance to redeem itself in the NCAA Tournament thanks to its 24-4 record. It earned the fifth seed in the region, and will take on fourth-seeded Union (TN) who comes in at 23-8.

Also in the Atlantic Region is West Virginia State as the no. 7 seed. It will take on West Liberty, the no. 2 seed in the Atlantic region. WVSU finished 23-7, losing in the MEC Tournament.

On the outside-looking-in is Virginia Union who finished with an identical 23-7 record to WVSU and won the head-to-head contest 75-49 on Nov. 22. Morehouse College also sees a 20-plus win season end without an NCAA Tournament bid. 

The regional tournaments are hosted by the eight No. 1 seeds and will take place on March 12, 13 and 15.

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