Some teams are in. Some are waiting to find out. Some still have conference tournaments to earn their way in.
That's the scorecard for the NCAA Division II and III men's college basketball teams in the district now that the regular season has been completed.
The Division III selection committee announced its NCAA tournament bracket yesterday that includes Presidents' Athletic Conference champion Bethany and Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference champion Penn State Behrend.
Bethany (17-10) will play at 13th-ranked Capital (23-5) in the opening round Thursday. Bethany received an automatic bid with a 90-76 victory against Washington and Jefferson in the PAC title game. The Bison are led by guard Brody Jackson (20.2 ppg), who has 91 3-pointers and shoots 45.3 percent from beyond the arc.
Penn State Behrend (23-4), winner of 10 in a row, will play Farmingdale State (22-5), champion of the Skyline Conference, Friday on a neutral court in Rochester, N.Y. Behrend leads the country in defense (53.9 points per game) and Farmingdale State is fourth in scoring (89.9 ppg). Behrend's scoring leader is 6-foot-7 senior Kevin Buczynski (15.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg).
Still in Division III, No. 2 seed Carnegie Mellon (16-9) is headed to the eight-team ECAC South Championship and will play host to No. 7 Grove City (17-10) in the first round at 7 p.m. tomorrow. The Tartans played a demanding schedule that included games against University Athletic Association opponents Brandeis, Washington University (Mo.), Rochester and Chicago, all of whom are in the NCAA tournament. Carnegie Mellon defeated Washington University, which was No. 1 at the time, current No. 13 Capital and No. 23 Chicago.
Carnegie Mellon's headliners are 6-5 junior Ryan Einwag of Baldwin (15.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and 6-8 senior Greg Gonzalez (13.2 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 45 blocks). This will be the fourth consecutive postseason tournament for the Tartans, who played in the ECAC in 2005 and '07 and the NCAA tournament in '06.
Grove City, which lost to Washington and Jefferson, 64-63, in the semifinals of the PAC tournament, is led by 6-1 Shawn Carr of Mohawk (14.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg).
Alderson-Broaddus (25-6) earned an automatic bid to the NCAA East Region by capturing the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship with a 71-64 victory against Pitt-Johnstown behind tournament MVP Terrell Eargle. Pitt-Johnstown (22-7) is hoping to receive an at-large bid when invitations are handed out Sunday.
Gannon (25-3), ranked 10th nationally, will meet No. 6 Findlay (25-3) Friday in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament at Grand Valley State. In the other semifinals, Grand Valley State (31-0) will play Lake Superior State (12-15). The final will be Saturday.
Gannon and Findlay split two games during the season, each winning on its home floor.
Gannon, which expects to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament even if it loses in the semifinals, is led by 6-6 Vince Mosley (16.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and 6-10 Kyle Goldcamp of Central Catholic (14.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 77 blocks).
West Division top seed Edinboro (22-5), winner of seven in a row and 13-0 at home, plays host to No. 4 IUP (13-14) and No. 2 California (22-5) is at home against No. 3 Clarion (16-11) today in the quarterfinals of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament. The winners will advance to the semifinals Friday at the site of the highest remaining seeded team from the East Division. The final will be Saturday.
Both Edinboro and California are in good shape to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament regardless of what happens in the PSAC.
Edinboro's marquee players are 6-9 Ryan McLemore (10.8 ppg, 10.7 rpg), who leads the country with 5.6 blocks per game and has set school and league season records with 151 blocks, and guard Joseph Jones (17.1 ppg). California's top scorers 6-5 Ron Banks (15.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and 6-6 Alioune Mbaye (13.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg).
Saint Vincent (21-4), a provisional member of the PAC, in Division III, because it still has several players on athletic scholarships from its days in the NAIA, is in good shape to receive a bid to the Division II ECAC championships when bids are offered Monday.