NAIA Conference Tournament Guide – Championship Tuesday

And then there were 64… well maybe not JUST yet! The field will be announced on Thursday at 6pm CT. Stay tuned for an announcement from us about our coverage!

Conference Championship Guide

March 2nd Scoreboard

Recap

Four More Teams Punched their tickets to the NAIA National Championships.

• Champions
  • Columbia (MO) | AMC Champions
  • Simpson (CA) | CalPac Champions
  • The Master’s (CA) | GSAC Champions
  • Freed-Hardeman (TN) | Mid-South Champions

• Champions who had previously clinched bids
  • St. Francis (IL) | CCAC Champions
  • Rocky Mountain | Frontier Conference Champions
  • William Penn | Heart of America Champions
• William Penn
  • Found themselves down 18-2 to start game. Showed a lot of toughness and heart to battle back to force OT. They then took control early and are back atop the Heart after a short hiatus! Statesmen also got the 3 game season sweep over Graceland, including twice on the road.
• Rocky Mountain
  • Not sure anyone had a more chaotic conference tournament in any league than the Battlin’ Bears! They got a battle from 8-seed Mayville State. Then hit a 65ft, double clutch buzzer beater to knock off 5-seed, Montana Tech. Then in last nights championship game, it was a back and forth battle for essentially the entire game but even more so the final 20 minutes where I don’t think either team was up by more than 5pts. Rocky did what good teams do, they took everyone’s best shot and found ways to win!

• Bid Stealers go 0-3
  • MSU-Northern magical run ran deep into the Frontier Conference Title game as they had a lead with under a minute to go, but Rocky, doing what they do, just made enough winning plays to secure the title!
  • Williams Baptist just couldn’t get past that first big Columbia run and played from down nearly 20 early. They closed the gap, but lost by 12.
  • Bethel (TN) from the 7-seed made the MSC Tourney a lot of fun, but just ran out of gas vs a very good Freed-Hardeman team.
• Speaking of Freed…They are locked in. Which is honestly tough to do when you have won 26 straight games, but this team didn’t show the normal emotion one would normally show after winning a championship. They clearly have bigger things on their check lists! Lions are locked and loaded for a big run!!

Tuesday, March 3rd Scoreboard

Who Is Playing?

Cascade Chanpionship

Crossroads League Championship

GPAC Championship

KCAC Championship

River States Conference Championship

WHAC Championship

What 2 Watch 4?

• THREE bid-stealers are one win from dancing
  • Corban (OR) | Cascade
  • Concordia (NE) | GPAC
  • IU Southeast | RSC
• A Top 5 Showdown
  • Round 3 between #2 Grace vs #3 Indiana Wesleyan should be another great game!
• KCAC | Both OKWU and Friends are host sites for the Opening Rounds of the National Championships, but these two will still leave it all on the line tonight! OKWU won the first two meetings by a total of 7pts! Should be a fantastic game!
• End of an Era
  • Rochester Christian (MI) head coach, Dr. Klint Pleasant, is set to leave RCU for a college president job in Michigan. Between him and his dad, a Pleasant has been at the helm at RCU for 53 years! Assistant, Quin Rice, will be the new head coach. HOWEVER, the Warriors season isn’t over yet. They play for what would be their 1st WHAC Tournament Title, tonight. They also are a lock to get into National Tourney. The Warriors have some unfinished business left in them before the end of an era is official!

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Cascade Collegiate Athletic Conference

Favorite: LC State/Eastern Oregon

Upset Special: College of Idaho

Our Pick to Win It: Eastern Oregon

National Tournament Bid Stealers: Bushnell, Corban, Northwest

Today’s Championship| Watch on the Urban Edge Network

No. 1 Lewis-Clark St. (ID) vs No. 7 Corban (OR)

Crossroads League

Favorite: Grace (IN)

Upset Special: MVNU

Our Pick to Win It: Indiana Wesleyan

Today’s Championship | Watch on Urban Edge Network

6pm CT | No. 1 Grace (IN) vs No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan

Great Plains Athletic Conference

Favorite: Morningside

Upset Special: Concordia (NE)

Pick to Win: Northwestern

Bid-Stealer: Concordia (NE)

Tonight’s Championship | on GPAC Network

7pm CT | #4 Concordia at #2 Northwestern

Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference

Favorite: Oklahoma Wesleyan

Upset Special: Southwestern (KS)

Our Pick to Win It: Friends (KS)

Today’s Schedule | Watch on Urban Edge Network

7pm CT | No. 1 Oklahoma Wesleyan vs No. 2 Friends (KS)

River States Conference

Favorite: Shawnee State

Upset Special: IU Southeast

Our Pick to Win It: Shawnee State

National Tournament Bid Stealers: IU Southeast

Today’s Championship | IU Kokomo Cougars Network

6pm CT | W1 IU Kokomo vs W2 IU Southeast

Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference

Favorite: Indiana Tech/Madonna

Upset Special: Cleary

Our Pick to Win It: Indiana Tech

Today’s Schedule

6PM CT |#1 Madonna (MI) vs. #3 Rochester Christian (MI)