Regular Season Standings
Let's take a look at where every team is now that the regular season has officially concluded.
Get ready for a big data dump. With the conclusion of the regular season, I wanted to put together a quick view of where everything stands. I’ve done my best to capture information accurately, but there is a lot here so please let me know what I missed.
Let’s get to it!
Conference Tournaments
Big West
Hawaii will host the Big West conference and they will need their home-court advantage if they want to secure a spot in the National Tournament. Long Beach and UC Irvine come into the conference tournament having swept each other at their respective home courts.
Right now, it is incredibly difficult to imagine any scenario where Long Beach is not invited to the National Tournament (which they will be hosting). Even if they lose in the semifinals, I would consider it as close to a sure thing as possible that they get an at-large bid.
If they don’t win the tournament, UC Irvine and Hawaii will both be in the conversation for an at-large bid. It is too early to say which way this will go as the conference results will have a significant bearing on the selection.
The path to nationals for UCSD, CSUN, or UCSB is only through winning the conference tournament. If they do that, Long Beach will take an at-large spot and that leaves only one at-large for the rest of the field.
Conference Carolinas
Belmont Abbey has been the story in the Carolinas this year. For the first time in program history, they are the regular season champions.
For the tournament quarterfinals, the matches will be played at the higher seed. The rest of the matches will be played at a neutral location: North Charleston Athletic Center.
As in years past, the Conference Carolinas will only have one team in the national tournament. It will very likely come down to the top two seeds for the coveted golden ticket. Even though they will probably get the 7 seed in the national tournament, these teams are great and I think the finals, in particular, will be a great match to match.
ECC
The ECC may be a first-year conference, but this will be a fun tournament. Since there are only four teams, it will take place over two days at Dominican University. Saint Thomas Aquinas is the top seed and the clear VBelo favorite for the tournament.
There is no automatic bid to the national tournament from the ECC this year. The basic requirements are two seasons played as a conference and six teams. Right now, the ECC doesn’t meet either of those qualifications.
EIVA
Penn State has quietly put together another fantastic EIVA season. And by fantastic, I mean undefeated in conference (10-0) and undefeated at home (13-0). Their reward for this is getting to host the EIVA tournament…again.
As we saw at the end of the season, George Mason will not go quietly into the night. If the top two seeds meet in the finals (which I think they will), it will be a great matchup. VBelo really likes Penn State so I wouldn’t be surprised if they make a big splash at the national tournament if they make it there.
IVA
This one is already over and Lincoln Memorial reigns supreme for the sixth straight IVA tournament. They are a powerhouse and I want to see them in more big-time matchups.
Sadly, no bid to the national tournament for the Railsplitters. Maybe in future years, but not this year.
MIVA
The quarterfinals were all chalk as seeds 1, 2, 3, & 4 all made it through to the next round. Although the teams were technically reseeded, all of the seeds remained the same (the irony).
This next round is going to get super interesting. Any of these teams could pull it off, but it is always good to be the home team.
The MIVA is unlikely to get an at-large bid this year with the strength of the MPSF and Big West this year. That is a real bummer because these teams could upset anyone in the national tournament and I wish more of them would get the chance to do that.
MPSF
All eyes will be on the MPSF. USC will host this tournament as three teams will all be in the conversation for the national tournament. UCLA has almost guaranteed the number one seed at this point (more on that on a different day). Grand Canyon will definitely be in the conversation and BYU might be able to sneak in depending on a handful of outcomes.
The MPSF will have two teams in the national tournament. Mark my words. They might have three teams, but that is much less likely.
NEC
The NEC is looking forward to a great conference tournament. All matches will be played at the higher seed and the teams will be reseeded after the quarterfinals.
I would put the NEC in the same category as the Conference Carolinas and the MIVA: great competition! Sadly, no automatic bid in the NEC but I know they will want to try to get some approved by the NCAA for next season.
SIAC
Technically, the SIAC matchups have not been announced yet. Here are where the standings are at the end of the season.
Edward Waters will be hosting the tournament. This is a little odd as they are the only team not eligible to claim the automatic qualification to the national tournament since they are still in the transition period to D-II.
Given the format from the SIAC, Fort Valley and Edward Waters should garner byes to the semifinals. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played on the same day, so the bye is an even bigger advantage than other conferences.
This will be the first season that the SIAC will get a place in the national tournament. Given the current strength of the SIAC, they will likely be the 8 seed in Long Beach this year.