2005 SUNSHINE STATE CONFERENCE MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
TOURNAMENT AT A GLANCE
MARCH MADNESS COMES TO SOUTH FLORIDA
Barry University will play host to the 2005 Sunshine State Conference
Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament. The Health
and Sports Center hardwood will be the site of 16 games over a five-day
period, beginning with the opening-round games in both the men’s
and women’s divisions on Wednesday, March 2 and ending with
the respective championship games on Sunday, March 6.
The 2005 edition marks the first time that the SSC Men’s
and Women’s Basketball Tournament will be played in South
Florida. After a seven-year stay at the Lakeland Center from 1995
through 2001, the tournament was moved back to campus sites in 2002.
Previous hosts have been Florida Tech (2002), Florida Southern (2003)
and Rollins (2004).
For the first time ever, nine men’s teams and nine women’s
teams will have a chance to compete for the SSC Tournament championship.
The 2004-2005 season marked Nova Southeastern University’s
first year of eligibility for SSC championships, and all nine SSC
men’s teams and all nine SSC women’s teams will qualify
for the 2005 Sunshine State Conference Men’s and Women’s
Basketball Tournament. Host Barry and newcomer Nova Southeastern
will be joined by men’s and women’s teams from Eckerd,
Florida Southern, Florida Tech, Lynn, Rollins, Saint Leo and Tampa
in the battle for SSC supremacy.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
The 2005 SSC Men’s and Women’s Tournament champions
will receive the Sunshine State Conference’s automatic bids
to the 2005 NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Basketball
Championships. A total of eight men’s teams and eight women’s
teams from each of eight geographical regions will earn berths in
the NCAA Tournament.
Men’s and women’s tournament champions from the SSC,
the Gulf South Conference and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference will receive automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament, which
begins with eight regional tournaments being held on yet-to-be-determined
campus sites from March 11-14 (women) and March 12-15 (men).
Teams receiving the three automatic bids on the men’s and
women’s sides will join five other teams that will receive
at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. Those teams will compete for
the south region championship and the opportunity to join other
regional champions in the NCAA Elite Eight. The Men’s Elite
Eight will be held March 23-26 in Grand Forks, North Dakota, while
the Women’s Elite Eight will take place March 23-26 in Hot
Springs, Arkansas.
TELEVISED GAMES
Sun Sports, formerly Sunshine Network, will once again be the television
home of the men’s and women’s championship games on
a tape-delayed basis. Both championship games will air on Sun Sports
throughout the day on Tuesday, March 8 and Wednesday, March 9. Please
visit www.ssconference.org
or www.sunsportstv.com
for exact air times.
SCHEDULES, RESULTS, LIVE STATISTICS AND MORE!
The Sunshine State Conference and Barry University Athletic Department
websites will contain a plethora of schedule, ticket and other interesting
information that will be updated in the days leading up to the tournament
and throughout the five days of tournament competition. Live in-game
statistics for each of the 16 tournament games will also be made
available on the Barry Athletics website. Please visit www.ssconference.org
and GoBarryBucs.com
for more information. |
