Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament – Semifinal Preview

2021 CCAC Tournament Bracket

Opening Round

February 23rd

No. 9 seed Trinity International 97, at No. 8 seed St. Francis 90

No. 4 seed Saint Xavier 71, No. 13 seed Cardinal Stritch 62

No. 5 seed Governors State 67, No. 12 seed Judson 60

No. 15 seed Indiana South Bend 67, at No. 2 seed Holy Cross 66

No. 7 seed Lincoln 66, No. 10 seed Roosevelt 60

No. 3 seed St. Ambrose 82, No. 14 seed Calumet St. Joseph 46

No. 11 seed Indiana Northwest 88, at No. 6 seed Trinity Christian 63

Quarterfinals

February 25th

No. 1 seed Olivet Nazarene 101, No. 9 seed Trinity International 74

No. 5 seed Governors State 81, at No. 4 seed Saint Xavier 80 — OT

No. 15 Indiana South Bend 62, at No. 7 seed Lincoln 59

No. 11 seed Indiana Northwest 96, at No. 3 seed St. Ambrose 75

Semifinals

February 27th

No. 5 Governors State (11-10) at No. 1 Olivet Nazarene
(14-3) 6pm CT Live Video

No. 15 Indiana South Bend (4-0) at No. 11 Indiana Northwest
(7-8) 5:30pm CT Live Video

Finals

March 1st

Championship Game @ Top Remaining Seed

League Notes:

The top seed: Olivet Nazarene
NAIA Locks: Clinched: Olivet Nazarene (CCAC Regular Season Champion), Clinched: Holy Cross (CCAC Runner Up)
NAIA Bubble Teams: St Ambrose
Best chances to win this tournament: Olivet Nazarene (13-3,12-1)
Possible sleeper: Trinity Christian (9-8,6-4) – Eliminated

KEY PLAYERS:

Alex Gross 6’9 – Olivet Nazarene: 27.3ppg, 4.1rpg, 3.2apg

Turner heads into the AAC Tourney as the Nations 2nd leading scorer. He is one of the best shooters in the NAIA and has lit up the AAC this season. Despite Union not winning as many games, Turner should still be the AAC Player of the Year.

KEY TEAMS:

#1 Olivet Nazarene – This ONU team is rolling right now with 10 straight wins headed into the CCAC Tournament. They will get a 1st round bye, so should be well rested. They have already qualified for the National Tournament, but now will try to improve seeding!

#2 Holy Cross – Lost in the 1st round to 15-seed IU South Bend..

#3 St Ambrose – Elimined in QF round by 11-seed IU Northwest

UPSET SPECIAL:

#6 Trinity Chrisitian – Our upset special team lost in the 1st round.

Semifinal Game Notes

No. 5 Governors State (11-10) at No. 1 Olivet Nazarene
(14-3) 6pm CT Live Video

ONU 1-0

These two teams met just two weeks ago with ONU smashing Governors State 80-57. If GSU is going to pull off the upset here they will have to figure out a way to stop Alex Gross. The big fella is dominating the CCAC this season.

No. 15 Indiana South Bend (4-0) at No. 11 Indiana Northwest
(7-8) 5:30pm CT Live Video

IU South Bend returned almost everyone from a team that won the CCAC Tourney last season. With them not playing a regular season CCAC game they were placed as the “15-seed” they are far from that! This IU Northwest team though has upset on their mind as well though as they knocked off both 6-seed Trinity Christian and 3-seed St Ambrose. This 15 vs 11 matchup will be a good one today!

OTHER NOTES:

CCAC Tournament Page

– CCAC has (3) auto-bids: Olivet Nazarene, Holy Cross and Tournament Champion or St Ambrose if it’s ONU wins Tournament.

– Best Semifinal Game: #15 IU South Bend @ #11 IU Northwest.

– Our Pick To Win It: Olivet Nazarene – We need to stop picking #1 seeds to win the tournaments, but this ONU team only has one CCAC loss on the season and are the heavy favorites! Just think that Alex Gross and John Content get it done in the tournament. This is a Tiger team that has improved all season long and is just clicking at the right time of the year.