2014 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament explained

Division:II
Year:2014
Gender:Men's
Teams:64
Finalfourcity:Evansville, Indiana
Champions:Central Missouri Mules
Titlecount:2nd
Runnerup:West Liberty Hilltoppers
Gamecount:1st
Semifinal1:Metro State Roadrunners
Finalfourcount:6th
Semifinal2:Aiken Pacers
Finalfourcount2:1st
Coach:Kim Anderson
Coachcount:1st
Mop:Daylen Robinson
Mopteam:Central Missouri

The 2014 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament involving 64 teams that was played to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college basketball as a culmination of the 2013–14 basketball season.

The eight regional winners met in the Elite Eight for the quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship rounds at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The championship game was played on March 29, 2014 and was aired nationally on CBS.

The Central Missouri Mules defeated the West Liberty Hilltoppers, 84–77, to win their second national championship and first since the 1984 NCAA Division II Tournament.[1]

Qualification and tournament format

The champions of 22 of the 24 Division II basketball conferences qualified automatically. The list of automatic qualifying conferences changed as follows from the 2013 tournament:

In addition to the MEC, the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) was not eligible for an automatic berth. Although the G-MAC began conference competition in 2012–13, it was not officially accepted as a Division II conference until 2013–14, meaning that it will not receive an automatic berth until the 2016 tournament.

An additional 42 teams were selected as at-large participants by the selection committee. As in previous years, the first three rounds of the tournament were organized in regions comprising eight participants in groups of two or three conferences (two in the Atlantic and Central regions) with seeds assigned by the selection committee. The Elite Eight regional winners met ar one site for the quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals.

Automatic qualifiers

The following teams automatically qualified for the national tournament as the champions of their conference tournaments.

TeamConferenceRegion
Cal State StanislausCCAAWest
PhiladelphiaCACCEast
LivingstoneCIAAAtlantic
LimestoneConference CarolinasSoutheast
BridgeportECCEast
HardingGreat AmericanCentral
FindlayGLIACMidwest
Southern IndianaGLVCMidwest
Seattle PacificGNACWest
North AlabamaGulf SouthSouth
Texas A&M InternationalHeartlandSouth Central
Tarleton StateLone StarSouth Central
Missouri Southern StateMIAACentral
Southern Connecticut StateNortheast-10East
Minnesota State MankatoNSICCentral
ChaminadePacific WestWest
South Carolina–AikenPeach BeltSoutheast
East StroudsburgPSACAtlantic
Metro StateRMACSouth Central
Lincoln MemorialSACSoutheast
TuskegeeSIACSouth
Florida SouthernSunshine StateSouth

Regionals

East - New Haven, Connecticut

Location: James Moore Fieldhouse Host: Southern Connecticut State University

Central - Mankato, Minnesota

Location: Taylor Center Host: Minnesota State University, Mankato

South - Lakeland, Florida

Location: Jenkins Field House Host: Florida Southern College

South Central - Denver, Colorado

Location: Auraria Events Center Host: Metropolitan State University

Midwest - Springfield, Missouri

Location: O'Reilly Family Event Center Host: Drury University

Atlantic - East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania

Location: Koehler Fieldhouse Host: East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

Southeast - Aiken, South Carolina

Location: USCA Convocation Center Host: University of South Carolina, Aiken

West - San Bernardino, California

Location: James and Aerianthi Coussoulis Arena Host: California State University, San Bernardino

Location: Ford Center Host: University of Southern Indiana

All-tournament team

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Central Missouri wins NCAA Division II crown. Bob. Boxell. Courier Journal. March 29, 2014. February 13, 2024.