MCC Teams in
the 2011 National
NAIA Tournament
Grace
Ind Wesleyan
St Francis
MCC Teams in
the 2010 National
NAIA Tournament
Bethel
Ind Wesleyan
Spring Arbor
St Francis
MCC Teams in
the 2009 National
NAIA Tournament
Bethel
Grace
Ind Wesleyan
MCC Teams in
the 2008 National
NAIA Tournament
Bethel
Grace |
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Tournament Qualification . . .
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The NAIA National Tournament qualification process is the result of several factors, including the number of conferences, the number of schools who participate in post-season play in each conference, the number of recognized independents, and even exceptions granted to conferences who petition for same. As a result, the allocation of tournament berths may vary from year to year. This year, the NAIA has 131 Divison II schools (116 in 14 conferences and 15 independent teams) as listed in the Qualification Plan (a .pdf file). Of those, 126 are eligible to participate in NAIA Division II men's basketball post-season competition (5 are either first-year members or have chosen not to participate).
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The NAIA rules give conferences which have six or more participating schools 1 berth in the national tournament. Each conference with 10 or more schools gets 2 berths and conferences with 15 or more schools gets 3 berths. This season, the NAIA will also give an Independent a berth, based upon a playoff of the highest rated independent teams. One berth is guaranteed to the Host School (College of the Ozarks) if they do not otherwise qualify. This provision prevents the tournament from being played on a neutral court, but the NAIA prefers gate receipts, rather than the impartial setting of a neutral court.
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For the 2011, the table at right shows the automatic berths granted to the 13 conferences, an independent, and the host school. This allocates 21 berths leaving at least 11 "At Large" berths available for the highest ranking teams in the Final Poll Ratings who do not qualify in any other way. If the host school (College of the Ozarks) qualifies by virtue of their conference selection process, an additional "At Large" berth becomes available. Further, if the NAIA decides that no independent qualifies for the tournament, that berth becomes available for an "At Large" team.
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The NAIA allows each member Conference to fill its automatic berth(s) in whatever manner it chooses. It may be based on conference records, a conference tournament (as in the MCC), a combination of the two, or even a coin flip (as one conference did in 2004).
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The process used by the NAIA does not ensure that the 32 highest rated teams will be in the tournament. A conference may have no teams ranked in the Top 25, but their conference still gets a berth. Be that as it may, the process brings together teams from all over the country and manages to get most if not all of the top 25 teams into the national tournament each year.
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A list of teams qualifying for the NAIA Division II National Tournament the past few seasons can seen via links below the table in the right column.
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Conference
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Berths
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American Mideast
Appalachian Athletic
California Pacific
Cascade Collegiate
Chicagoland Collegiate
Great Plains Athletic
Kansas Collegiate
Kentucky Intercollegiate
Mid-Central College (MCC)
Midlands Collegiate
Midwest Collegiate
Sun Conference
Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic
Independents
Host School
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1
1
1
2
1
2
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
1
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2011 Tournament Qualifiers
2010 Tournament Qualifiers
2009 Tournament Qualifiers
2008 Tournament Qualifiers
2007 Tournament Qualifiers
2006 Tournament Qualifiers
2005 Tournament Qualifiers
2004 Tournament Qualifiers
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Qualification Process