First Three Teams Punch Tickets to 2011 Men's Basketball Tournament

By Ray Bennett
Sunday March 6, 2011

On Saturday, while some of the top ranked teams in the nation played their final regular season games, three teams were busy trying to win their way into the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

Those three teams, North Carolina (Ashville), Belmont and Morehead State, won their conference tournaments on Saturday to clinch automatic bids to the NCAA's now 68 team Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. Unlike their major collegian athletic conference counterparts (the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big XII, SEC, Pac 10), these three teams had to win their respective conference tournaments (the Big South, Atlantic Sun and Ohio Valley Conferences). In the tournament, their are 32 automatic bids for conference championships, 31 of those 32 coming from teams winning their conference tournaments. The Ivy League is the only Division I conference that does not have a conference tournament, instead they send the winner of their regular season champion. The other 36 teams get at-large bids, mostly from the major conferences. The three winners from Saturday will have to wait until March 13 to find out who they will play either in the new four team opening round The First Four or in the second round (formerly the first round).

The UNC Ashville Bulldogs became the first team to punch their ticket to the big dance by defeating the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 60-47 in the final in The Big South Conference tournament. This is the Bulldog's (19-13 overall, 11-7 conference record) first conference tournament championship and their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2003. The game was played at Kimble Arena on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC. The Chanticleers won the regular season championship and was the top seed in the Big South tournament. Conference rules designate the regular season conference champion to hold the Semi-finals and Final game at their home-court. The #3 seeded Bulldogs lead through most of the game and did not surrender the lead in the second half. Coastal Carolina will most likely play in the National Invitation Tournament for their post-season play.

The Belmont Bruins coasted to a 87-46 victory over the North Florida Ospreys to represent the Atlantic Sun Conference in the big tournament. The game took place at the University Center on the campus of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. This conference title marks the private Nashville, Tennessee university's fourth appearance in the NCAA tournament in the last six years. The Bruins were the top seed in the conference tournament, going 19-1 in regular season conference play with an overall record 30-4. The team gained national notoriety in the 2008 NCAA tournament as the #15 seed by almost pulling off an upset victory over national power Duke. They lost the first round game 71-70.

The Morehead State Eagles defeated the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 80-73 in the finals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The contest was held at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville. Morehead State, located in Morehead, Kentucky, was the #2 seed in the tournament after finishing conference regular season play with a 13-5 record (22-9 overall). The Eagles will go to the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in school history, second time in the last three years. Tennessee Tech, who finished and seeded fourth in the conference tournament (12-6 OVC record), got into the finals by defeating regular season champion and top-seeded Murray State (14-4 OVC record) in the Semi-Finals. Morehead State has lost in the first round in all of their NCAA tournament appearances.

The NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament begins on March 14 and 15 with the newly implemented First Four in Dayton, Ohio. This year's field of teams has expanded from 65 to 68, along with a brand new television contract with both CBS and Turner Sports. The First Four games will air on Tru TV (formerly Court TV as of 2009). The second and third round games will air simultaneously on CBS, TBS, TNT and Tru TV with games starting 30 minutes apart of each other March 17-20. The regional Semi-Finals and Finals will take place the next week March 24-27. The Final Four will take place at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas with the National Semi-Finals on April 2 and the National Championship game on April 4.