INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Committee announced today the field of 48 teams for the 2001 Division II Men's Basketball Championship. Twenty conferences have been awarded automatic qualification. The remaining 28 teams were selected at-large by the committee.
Eight regional tournaments, consisting of six teams each, will be conducted March 8-10 or March 9-11, at regional sites. The eight quarterfinalists will advance to the finals at Centennial Garden, in Bakersfield California, on March 21, 22 and 24.
Augusta State (20-9), the sixth-seed in the South Atlantic Region, will face South Atlantic Conference champion Catawba College (25-4) on Thursday, March 8th in Charlotte, North Carolina. Catawba is the third-seeded team in the region. The other four participants in ASU’s regional consist of top-seeded Johnson C. Smith (25-4), second-seeded Winston-Salem State (24-4), fourth-seeded Wingate (24-4) and fifth-seeded Armstrong Atlantic (25-7). ASU is coming off of its first-ever Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship with a 60-46 win over Armstrong Atlantic and will making its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the 1978 season.
Metropolitan State College of Denver defeated 1999 champion Kentucky Wesleyan, 97-79, to win the 2000 Division II Men's Basketball Championship in Louisville, Kentucky.
The 45th annual Division II Men's Basketball Championship game will be broadcast live on CBS at 10 a.m. Pacific time.