Tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern, we find out the field for the 2016 NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament. You can view the selection show at NCAA.com by clicking here. In this post, our "pre-selection show" post, we list every conference champion and the implications it will have on the regional tournament field. We take a look at how we think the regional fields may shake out, although nothing on our uneducated end should be considered official in any way.
** ATLANTIC REGION **
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament
Champions: Chowan (26-23)
Mountain East Tournament
Champions: Shepherd (37-13)
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament
Champions: West Chester (36-12)
May 11 Regional Rankings:
#1 Millersville
#2 West Chester
#3 Mercyhurst
#4 Shepherd
#5 East Stroudsburg
#6 Seton Hill
#7 West Virginia State
#8 Gannon
#9 Winston-Salem State
NR Chowan
The Atlantic gets seven teams in, and the three auto-bids are listed above. Chowan will be the #7 seed, while Millersville will be the #1 seed. West Chester should stick at #2, while Shepherd and Mercyhurst should be #3 and #4, order to be determined. That leaves two teams to fight for #5 and #6, which were held by East Stroudsburg and Seton Hill prior to this weekend. Could they hold on? ESU went 1-2 in the PSAC Tourney while Seton Hill went 3-2. I think they might flip, but both hold on.
** CENTRAL REGION **
Great American Conference Tournament
Champions: Arkansas-Monticello (36-14)
Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament
Champions: Central Missouri (38-13)
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament
Champions: St. Cloud State (42-8)
May 11 Regional Rankings:
#1 St. Cloud State
#2 Central Missouri
#3 Minnesota-Duluth
#4 Minnesota State
#5 Arkansas-Monticello
#6 Missouri Western
#7 Emporia State
#8 SW Oklahoma State
#9 Washburn
#10 Augustana
The Central gets eight teams in the regional this year, and three are above, all of which were ranked within the top eight of the last regional rankings. SCSU should hold on to the top spot, while UCM should hold on to the #2. Minnesota-Duluth should hang right around their #3 spot, while UAM may move up to #3 themselves or at least #4, especially with Minnesota State going 1-2 in the NSIC Tournament. Missouri Western should hold on to a spot in the regional after reaching the MIAA title game, while Emporia State at the #7 spot reached the final day of the conference tournament, as well. Could Washburn, one of the other final teams in the MIAA tournament, move ahead of SW Oklahoma State for the final spot? SWOSU went 0-2 in the GAC Tournament, but that was already taken into account in the last set of rankings.
** EAST REGION **
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament
Champions: Felician (33-19)
East Coast Conference Tournament
Champions: Dowling (27-23)
Northeast-10 Conference Tournament
Champions: Southern New Hampshire (45-5)
May 11 Regional Rankings:
#1 Franklin Pierce
#2 Southern New Hampshire
#3 St. Thomas Aquinas
#4 Felician
#5 Molloy
#6 Merrimack
#7 Le Moyne
#8 Chestnut Hill
#9 Stonehill
NR Dowling
The top two are going to hold on to those spots, easily, although it will be interesting to see if SNHU moves up to the #1 spot to host. Although Felician came out on top in the CACC Tournament, it most likely won't be enough to leap STA in the rankings. With Dowling taking the #7 spot in the region, that leaves #5 and #6 to be determined.
** MIDWEST REGION **
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament
Champions: Grand Valley State (35-16-1)
Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament
Champions: Indianapolis (37-19)
Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament
Champions: Alderson Broaddus (31-19)
May 11 Regional Rankings:
#1 Quincy
#2 Southern Indiana
#3 Missouri S&T
#4 Grand Valley State
#5 Ashland
#6 Indianapolis
#7 Missouri-St. Louis
#8 Hillsdale
#9 Trevecca Nazarene
#10 Lewis
NR Alderson Broaddus
It appears Quincy had enough of a "lead" on the field that they should hold on to the top spot in the region, while I think GVSU may have done enough to move up to #2 in the rankings after claiming the GLIAC championship. All signs here point to #1 Quincy, #2 GVSU, #3-#5 some combination of Indianapolis, Southern Indiana and Missouri S&T, #6 Ashland, #7 Hillsdale, #8 Alderson Broaddus.
** SOUTH REGION **
Gulf South Conference Tournament
Champion: Delta State (38-15)
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament
Champion: Claflin (24-27)
Sunshine State Conference (No conference tournament)
Champion: Tampa (41-8)
May 11 Regional Rankings:
#1 Tampa
#2 West Florida
#3 Nova Southeastern
#4 Delta State
#5 Lynn
#6 West Alabama
#7 West Georgia
#8 Florida Southern
#9 Alabama-Huntsville
NR Claflin
Everything here was pretty much set except for the final weekend of SSC play. With that said, there shouldn't be much movement here. Seven teams make the regional, and Claflin will be in that #7 spot. The shame here is that out of the nine teams ranked, they all might be part of the top 20 teams, nationally, but some of them aren't even going to make the regional tournament.
** SOUTH CENTRAL REGION **
Heartland Conference Tournament
Champions: St. Edward's (43-10)
Lone Star Conference Tournament
Champions: West Texas A&M (36-18)
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament
Champions: Colorado Mesa (43-11)
May 11 Regional Rankings:
#1 Colorado Mesa
#2 Texas A&M-Kingsville
#3 St. Edward's
#4 Lubbock Christian
#5 Angelo State
#6 West Texas A&M
#7 Colorado Mines
#8 Cameron
With WTAM winning the LSC title, they have a spot in the six-team regional, while Angelo should also hold on by virtue of getting to the final game of the conference tournament. I think the top six will remain the same here, but there might be some movement within the 2-6 spots themselves. I think SEU may move up to the #2, while the other four spots could be any order of the last set of rankings.
** SOUTHEAST REGION **
Conference Carolinas Tournament
Champion: Mount Olive (31-19)
Peach Belt Conference Tournament
Champions: Columbus State (42-12)
South Atlantic Conference Tournament
Champions: Catawba (34-19)
May 11 Regional Rankings:
#1 Lander
#2 Columbus State
#3 Belmont Abbey
#4 USC Aiken
#5 Tusculum
#6 Georgia College
#7 Catawba
#8 Erskine
#9 Newberry
NR Mount Olive
In this seven-team regional, it appears that the "for sure" spots may be #1 Columbus State, #6 Catawba and #7 Mount Olive. At #2, it should easily be Lander. For #3-#5, I think Belmont Abbey and USC Aiken are comfortably in, while #5 could be anyone's guess. It is possible Catawba could sneak up to #5, as well.
** WEST REGION **
California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament
Champions: Chico State (35-20)
Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament
Champions: Northwest Nazarene (30-21)
Pacific West Conference (No conference tournament)
Champion: California Baptist (39-11)
May 11 Regional Rankings:
#1 Dixie State
#2 California Baptist
#3 Cal Poly Pomona
#4 Cal State-Monterey Bay
#5 Cal State-East Bay
#6 Chico State
#7 Azusa Pacific
#8 Montana State-Billings
NR Northwest Nazarene
The top two spots here should remain the same since neither team has played since the rankings came out. East Bay reached the CCAA title game, which might be enough to push them to the #3 spot. It remains to be seen whether Northwest Nazarene will sneak in to the 6th spot, as the GNAC does not get an automatic bid to the tournament. I don't think they will make it, which leavs the #3-#6 spots all for the taking by the CCAA. (H/T to Ashley for remembering the GNAC doesn't have an automatic bid!)
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