Old Dominion Athletic Conference basketball champion Roanoke College will not be the only conference team in the Division III Men’s Basketball Championship field. The Maroons will be joined by Randolph-Macon College as at-large selections were announced in a selection show on NCAA.com on Monday afternoon.
The Division III men’s basketball bracket includes 64 teams with 43 qualifying automatically as conference champions like Roanoke. The remaining 21 entrants were determined by ranking in NCAA Power Index (NPI). Randolph-Macon slotted 6th in the final table, while Roanoke ranked 22nd. The Yellow Jackets’ position translated to the second at-large selection.
Nationally fourth-ranked Randolph-Macon was selected to host first and second round games on Friday and Saturday. Roanoke, ranked 18th in the country, will be on the road to start its journey. The Maroons will travel south to Atlanta for early round play hosted by Emory University. Roanoke (22-6) will meet Rhodes College on Friday afternoon at 4:45 p.m. while the host Eagles (22-3) meet the University of Mississippi for Women at 7:15 p.m.
“They score at a high rate, really shoot the three-pointer well, and play a versatile lineup,” said RC coach Clay Nunley of Rhodes. “Our defense will be really tested.”
Roanoke earns its 15th NCAA Division III Tournament appearance in program history and the second straight. The Maroons defeated Pfeiffer University and Christopher Newport University in last year’s NCAA Tournament but fell to Catholic University in the round of 16 in overtime. RC is 15-16 all-time in NCAA play and advanced to the D-III national semifinals in 1983. Roanoke won the College Division national championship in 1972 under Hall of Fame coach Charlie Moir.
Rhodes (23-4) earned their automatic bid with a victory over Trinity in the Southern Athletic Association Tournament Championship Saturday.
The Division III men’s tournament has a larger footprint than in most seasons with the national championship game being hosted in Indianapolis with those of Division II and Division I along with the Division I semifinals. The 16 winners from the opening-round pods will compete in eight third round games on Friday or Saturday, March 13-14. The tournament then shifts to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, IN, for the quarterfinals March 19, and semifinals March 21. Semifinal winners advance to the championship game, which will be staged at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on April 5.
