In the Dirty South,
#1 Longwood takes on #5 CSU-Chico. It's been one of Longwood's strong seasons after a few down years, but the Lancers' NT draw is brutal. CSU Chico has 6 Seniors and 6 Juniors and runs a full court press with them, so it's an understatement to say that they're a pretty deep squad. And while there's not one standout player on Chico's squad, they substitute guys in droves, and there's no weak link or weak position on the squad. This is a rematch of an early season game which Longwood barely won. However, Longwood's squad improved greatly midseason with an important lineup change. Longwood relies on an inside-out game. Their three best scorers each have specific roles, but both Neilsen and Gardner are very versatile, where Wurth just rains down 3's. Santoyo is their inside bad boy, rebounding, dunking, and fouling. They have a strong bench as well, but nothing near Chico's depth.
#6 Florida Southern's Eddie Shouse scores a whole lot of points. He's the stud on a team of role players. Florida Southern was kind of an unknown, playing a mostly poor schedule, but rarely losing. They recieved a pretty favorable draw in the NT, but you're supposed to win the games you get, and Fla. Southern is definitely doing that. They shoot extremely well from 3, mostly due to Shouse. They're possibly running into a buzzsaw in #7 Wisconsin-Parkside, a team full of ridiculously good athletes and defenders. They drive the lane and get fouled better than anyone else in DII Iba. They're impossible to score against. They won 3 titles in the last 12 seasons with the same formula So why are they #7? Probably because they don't really have any shooters themselves. It's like they did an experiment, picking out the 12 best young athletes in the state of Wisconsin and giving all of them scholarships, whether or not they've ever shot a basketball before. Nevertheless, everyone should be put on notice after their 1 point win over very good #2 seed Northeastern St....this Wisc-Parkside squad is dangerous. This game makes for a fun matchup of opposite styles, as Florida Southern is not super athletic and relies on their shooting.
In the Wild West
#1 Pfieffer's coach bow2thacowz thought the tourney gods were against him, pitting his squad against #16 seed Clark, a ringer of a #16 seed if their ever was one. Yet his strong squad prevailed, and they move on to a tough CVAC-Heartland matchup vs. #4 Valdosta St. Pfieffer did not struggle with either NT opponent. They're like Hillsdale with dominant perimeter scoring, but unlike Hillsdale, their bigs can put up numbers once in a while too. Their 4 losses were all very close, by 8, 3, 1point, and an OT loss.....They are probably up there with Parkside as the best defensive team in DII, and their non-scoring bigs rebound everything, so you can't ignore them. #4 Valdosta St. is interesting....they go 12 deep, and have some very impressive wins and surprising losses in their resume. All 12 guys contirubute to their very well-rounded offense. Only one scorer gets double figures (11 a game), but their offense is very efficient, so it's pretty hard to defend their squad.
#6 Ouachita Baptist was a team that jumped out at me from the beginning that was much more impressive than their seeding. They get to play the shocking #15 S. Dakota St. Jackrabbits, who were able to out free-throw shoot their two startled NT opponents by a wide margin. Apparently 3 pointers are illegal in South Dakota, but they draw fouls extremely well, and their two upsets over OPSU and Cal Poly Pomona weren't really that close. Ouachita Baptist hasn't lost in forever, and have some very quality wins on their resume. They should be a #2 or #3 seed in my opinion, but were hurt by a weak conference. They have great guards that penetrate to the basket a lot (and draw fouls....notice a trend here??) Terrell Perry might be the best offensive guard in the country, and very clutch (they just barely got by a tough Pittsburgh St. team on a last-second Perry jumper), and Pilarsky is no slouch either. They are a strong team, but they can have depth issues.