Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Playoff scenarios
Schools jockeying for tourney seeds
The final week of college basketball’s regular season is here. Take a look at the postseason scenarios for Arkansas’ mid-major men’s and women’s basketball teams.
The final week of college basketball’s regular season is here.
For some of Arkansas’ mid-major men’s and women’s basketball teams, the end of this week will mark the end of the 201819 season. For others, postseason play looms. Here are the scenarios for those teams:
UALR MEN
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has lost the ability to win its way into the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
UALR (10-19, 5-11 Sun Belt), the Sun Belt’s current No. 11 team, lost control of its destiny into the Sun Belt’s 10-team tournament after Appalachian State’s victory Saturday against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Appalachian State (1019, 5-11) defeated UALR 77-73 on Jan. 26 and owns the tiebreaker against the Trojans.
UALR will host Louisiana-Lafayette (1712, 8-8) on Thursday and Louisiana-Monroe (15-13, 8-8) on Saturday. The Sun Belt Tournament begins March 12.
UALR WOMEN
UALR (17-10, 13-3) will be one of the top three seeds in the women’s tournament, which begins Monday. The Trojans have earned a bye, at least, until the tournament quarterfinals March 14.
If UALR wins one of its final two games at Louisiana-Lafayette on Thursday or at LouisianaMonroe on Saturday, it will earn a top-two seed and automatically advance to the semifinals March 15 at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
UALR can earn the No. 1 overall seed by winning both games in Louisiana.
ASU MEN
Arkansas State University (12-17, 6-10) is currently the No. 9 seed in the Sun Belt and will officially qualify for the tournament with one victory this week against Louisiana-Monroe on Thursday or LouisianaLafayette on Saturday.
Both games are at First National Bank Arena in Jonesboro.
ASU owns the tiebreaker against Appalachian State and UALR, so ASU could lose both games and still qualify for the tournament if Appalachian State and/or UALR lose one of their final two games.
Appalachian State will host last-place Troy on Thursday and No. 8 seed South Alabama on Saturday.
ASU WOMEN
With Georgia Southern and Louisiana-Monroe officially eliminated, ASU (11-16, 6-10) earned a berth into the conference tournament with Saturday’s 86-75 victory against Georgia Southern.
With Coastal Carolina and South Alabama tied for seventh at 8-8, ASU’s seeding in the tournament is to be determined. The Red Wolves will be one of the final four seeds, meaning it will play in a play-in game Monday.
UCA MEN
The University of Central Arkansas (11-18, 6-10 Southland) is in a tie for ninth place with Northwestern (La.) State (11-18, 6-10). The top eight teams qualify for the Southland Conference Tournament, which is March 13-16 at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.
UCA will conclude the regular season with a road game at No. 1 seed Sam Houston State (20-9, 15-1) on Wednesday and another road game at Northwestern State on Saturday.
UCA is 0-2 versus Sam Houston State and Northwestern State this season. Both losses were at the Farris Center in Conway.
Stephen F. Austin, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Houston Baptist are in a three-way tie for sixth place at 7-9.
UCA WOMEN
The Sugar Bears (11-15, 6-10) are currently the No. 8 seed in the Southland and have no guarantee of a spot in the conference tournament.
Six teams — Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (7-9), New Orleans (7-10), UCA, Northwestern State (5-11), McNeese State (5-11) and Incarnate Word (5-11) — are fighting for the final three spots in the eight-team conference tournament, which is March 14-17 at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.
UCA will host current No. 5 seed Sam Houston State (15-11, 10-6) on Wednesday and will finish the season at Northwestern State on Saturday.
UAPB MEN
Before Monday’s game, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (1217, 9-7), the current No.
4 seed, had qualified for the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament, but the team’s seed will be determined after its final two games.
One win this week — either Monday versus Jackson State at H.O. Clemmons Arena in Pine Bluff or Saturday at Mississippi Valley State — will give UAPB one of the top four seeds in the tournament.
As a top-four seed, UAPB would host a first-round game in the tournament at H.O. Clemmons Arena on March 12.
UAPB WOMEN
UAPB (5-19, 2-15), the SWAC’s last-place team, is 2-12 since firing former coach Nate Kilbert on Jan. 15.
UAPB’s loss Monday night to Jackson State 6141 eliminated the Golden Lions from contention for the eight-team SWAC Tournament.