Division I Black College Basketball Postseason Schedule Set
With the announcement of the women’s participants in the Division I NCAA National Basketball Tournament last night, we now can look ahead to the match-ups for both the men’s and women’s brackets. The joy of winning a conference title begins to subside, and the infusion of tiptoeing hope and short prayers throughout the week can begin.
Women’s
#1 UCONN vs. #16 Southern - One of the best seasons in Southern basketball history, men’s or women’s, gets rewarded with the Lady Jags clashing with arguably the greatest women’s college basketball team of all time. If the SWAC doesn’t commit from top to bottom to improving its basketball, this is the kind of mockery that its conference champions will continue to receive in the postseason.
#2 Duke vs. #15 Hampton – The Lady Pirates’ size with Laura Lewis and Quaneisha Perry, in combination with the shooting of Jericka Jenkins, should give the Lady Blue Devils a lot more fits than people would expect. Expect a closer game than the 20-30 point blowout we’re used to seeing in the opening rounds.
Wake Forest vs. North Carolina A&T (N.I.T.) – So many expectations were placed on the shoulders of the Lady Aggies this year after their historic run to the NCAA tournament last season. You can’t be sure if the expectations were too heavy, but you can be sure that Aggies head coach Patricia Cage-Bibbs will have the experience and the emotion of an early exit in the MEAC tournament clicking in the opening round of the NIT.
Kansas vs. Prairie View A&M (N.I.T.) - Like North Carolina A&T, the Lady Panthers fell well short of their postseason goals on last-second magic against a lower ranked opponent in the conference championship. They too will have a point to prove in the NIT, and with their talent, it could be the first time we’ll see two HBCUs securing first round wins in a postseason tournament in NCAA history.
Men
#2 West Virginia vs. #15 Morgan State – The Bears’ success generally depends on the good or bad days of guard Reggie Holmes and forward Kevin Thompson, but against West Virginia, the versatile Dwayne Jackson has to play a major role in defending WVU’s best perimeter player and making him work to stop the MEAC Rookie of the Year.
Winthrop vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (NCAA Play-in Game) – The Golden Lions have great size on the interior, and aren’t easily pushed around. But will the emotion of their first appearance in the NCAA National Tournament unravel the postseason novices against tournament-tested Winthrop? We’ll find out tonight.
Mississippi State vs. Jackson State (N.I.T.) In another knife-in-the-back-of-the-SWAC move, the NIT pits the would be champion JSU Tigers against in-state rival Mississippi State, a team that nearly defeated Kentucky in the SEC Championship and which many thought was snubbed for the NCAA National Tournament.
The moral of this postseason story? The SWAC now has more reason than ever to have a come-to-Jesus moment about sports outside of football. Postseason tournaments are now mocking the conference and its champions with guaranteed bloodbaths and regionally-relevant that will ensure a full-year of mockery from local fans? Enough is enough.
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