March 5, 2008
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - (official bracket ) The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released the 32-team bracket for the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship. The 17th annual event will be held March 12-18 in Point Lookout, Mo. The College of the Ozarks (Mo.) serves as host for the ninth straight year.
Bellevue (Neb.) lands the No. 1 seed for the second straight year. The Bruins, who open up play against St. Joseph (Vt.) on Wednesday, March 12 at Noon, has made six straight Championship appearances and nine overall. Host school, Ozarks, earns the No. 10 seed and faces Indiana-Southeast at 8 p.m. CST on Wednesday.
Defending national champion and No. 2 seed, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), starts its quest for a repeat against Friends (Kan.) on Wednesday at 9:45 p.m.
There are four teams who are making their first trip to the Division II Championships: Eastern Oregon, Edward Waters (Fla.), Judson (Ill.) and Oklahoma Wesleyan. Of the 32-teams, MidAmerica Nazarene and Northwestern (Iowa) are tied for the most active appearances with 13. The Red Raiders of Northwestern own the most Championship wins all-time with 22.
In all, there are 31 games spanning seven games. The first three days pack in eight games each day starting at 8:30 a.m. For ticket information, call 417.335.6242.
The first 30 games of the Championships will be video-streamed live on the Internet, while the National Championship Game on March 18 will air live nationwide on College Sports Television (CSTV), with Jason Knapp calling the action and Steve Wolf providing color analysis.
For more information on the Championships, click here.
For complete conference tournament breakdown, click here.
2008 NAIA National Tournament
Team (Overall Record) Qualification Appearances Record Titles
#16 Aquinas (Mich.) (24-8) At-Large C 3 0-2 0
#1 Bellevue (Neb.) (29-3) Midlands Collegiate Champion 9 8-8 0
#9 Bethel (Ind.) (27-6) Mid-Central College Tourn. Champion 7 20-3 3
Bluefield (Va.) (25-7) Appalachian Tournament Runners-Up 7 1-7 0
#15 Cedarville (Ohio) (22-7) American Mideast Tourn. Champion 5 8-4 0
Dakota Wesleyan (24-8) At-Large E 3 0-2 0
#7 Eastern Oregon (25-5) Cascade Regular Season Champion 1 0-0 0
Edward Waters (Fla.) (20-11) Florida Sun Tournament Champion 1 0-0 0
#14 Embry-Riddle (Fla.) (27-6) At-Large D 10 13-8 1
#6 Evangel (Mo.) (27-6) Heart of America Tournament Champion 7 8-5 1
Friends (Kan.) (18-11) Kansas Collegiate Tourn. Champion 3 0-2 0
Grace (Ind.) (24-9) At-Large G 3 4-1 1
Indiana-Southeast (24-8) Kentucky Intercollegiate Champion 5 0-4 0
Indiana Tech (21-12) Wolverine-Hoosier Tourn. Champion 5 3-4 0
Jamestown (N.D.) (23-8) At-Large F 6 5-5 0
Judson (Ill.) (19-8) Chicagoland Collegiate Champion 1 0-0 0
#8 King (Tenn.) (26-7) Appalachian Champions 5 0-4 0
Menlo (Calif.) (18-9) California Pacific Tourn. Champion 3 0-2 0
#2 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (28-4) Heart of America Reg. Season Champion 13 20-11 1
Minot State (N.D.) (19-11) Dakota Athletic Tourn. Champion 3 0-2 0
#3 Morningside (Iowa) (28-3) Great Plains Athletic Reg. Season Champion 2 2-1 0
Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio)
(23-7) At-Large I 7 6-6 0
#5 Northwestern (Iowa) (27-4) Great Plains Athletic Tourn. Champion 13 25-6 2
#13 Northwood (Fla.) (25-7) At-Large B 2 0-1 0
Oklahoma Wesleyan (25-7) At-Large H 1 0-0 0
#11 Oregon Tech (26-6) At-Large A 10 20-8 1
Ottawa (Kan.) (23-8) Kansas Collegiate Reg. Season Champion 4 0-3 0
#10 Ozarks (Mo.) (25-5) Host Institution 12 16-10 1
St. Joseph (Vt.) (13-14) Sunrise Conference Tourn. Champion 2 0-1 0
#4 Walsh (Ohio) (25-4) American Mideast Conference Champion 8 12-6 1
Warner Pacific (Ore.) (22-10) Cascade Tournament Champion 3 2-2 0
#12 William Penn (Iowa) (28-5) Midwest Collegiate Champion 2 0-1 1
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