INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University's men's basketball will be returning to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in six seasons. After a memorable 2016-17 campaign that saw the program win 20 games for the 16th time, earn national rankings in six total weeks and advance to the New Jersey Athletic Conference championship game—only to lose on a half-court buzzer beater—NJCU has been selected to participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament for the 18th time in school history. The 64-team bracket was released on February 27.
The Gothic Knights (21-7), ranked No. 24 nationally and No. 3 in the NCAA Atlantic Region entering the NCAAs, will head to the Boston area and face Skidmore College (19-7, 14-2 Liberty League) in the NCAA Tournament First Round on Friday, March 3 (5 p.m.) at Babson College's Staake Gymnasium in Babson Park, Massachusetts—228 miles northeast of Jersey City. The winner will meet the winner of No. 3 Babson (25-2) and Husson University (21-6) in the NCAA Second Round on March 4 with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line.
NJCU and Skidmore each were selected as at-large qualifiers—among the 21 Pool C teams to reach the NCAA Tournament in the first season Division III will play a full 64-team bracket. It will be the first-ever meeting between NJCU and Skidmore. The Thoroughbreds, from Saratoga Springs, N.Y. won the Liberty League regular season championship before being upset in the league's semifinals. Unranked Skidmore is one of three Liberty League representatives in the field (St. Lawrence University, Union College (NY)); NJCU and Ramapo College were qualified from the NJAC.
Babson, the No. 1 ranked team in the nation in nine consecutive weeks dating to mid-December, is expected to fall out of that spot when the new poll is released tonight after losing at home to MIT in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) championship game (67-62). NJCU and Babson have never met.
Husson, the champions of the North Atlantic Conference (NAC), are from Bangor, Maine and captured the program's fifth NAC championship in the last eight years and its 24
th conference title in its history. NJCU has not faced Husson in more than 47 years since meeting in back-to-back seasons in the late 1960s—an 80-76 loss in Jersey City (December 14, 1968) and a 96-81 decision in Maine on December 13, 1969.
NJCU will be making its 18th NCAA Tournament appearance—tied for the 13th most in Division III history—and its first since qualifying in 2011 as NJAC champions. NJCU is making its first at-large appearance in the NCAAs since 1999; it also received a bid as an independent in 2005.
NJCU has wins over four teams in this year's NCAA Tournament—each conference champions. The Knights have wins over Albertus Magnus College (Great Northeast Athletic Conference), Misericordia University (Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom), Ramapo (NJAC) and the College of Staten Island (City University of New York Athletic Conference). NJCU won 20 or more games for the 16th time in the 84-year history of the program and after going 21-8 last year, notched consecutive 20-win campaigns for the first time since then Jersey City State College won 22, 24 and 25 games in a three-year stretch from 1987-90.
All-time NJCU is 17-21 (.447) in 38 NCAA games. The Gothic Knights have reached the Final Four twice (1986, 1992) and Elite 8 four times (1979, 1980, 1986, 1992) with six Sweet 16 appearances (1979, 1980, 1986, 1989, 1992, 2004).
Skidmore, which reached the NCAA Second Round last year, will make its fifth NCAA appearance—all since 2011. The Thoroughbreds qualified in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016 and own a 2-4 record in the tournament.
NJCU and Skidmore have one common opponent—The College of New Jersey. Skidmore defeated TCNJ, 96-84, in a non-conference game in Saratoga Springs on November 28, 2016. NJCU was 2-1 against the Lions, including the NJAC semifinals. Husson is in the field for a sixth time and is 0-5 all time. Babson makes its eighth appearance and fourth in a row; the Beavers are 8-8 in the NCAAs.
—www.NJCUGothicKnights.com | @NJCUAthletics—
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MOST NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES, NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL HISTORY
(15 or more appearances)
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SCHOOL
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NO. of APPEARANCES (including 2017)
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Scranton
|
28
|
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Wittenberg
|
27
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Hope
|
26
|
|
Wooster
|
26
|
|
Franklin and Marshall
|
24
|
|
Illinois Wesleyan
|
24
|
|
Salem State
|
24
|
|
Calvin
|
21
|
|
Christopher Newport
|
21
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|
Washington (Mo.)
|
20
|
|
Wisconsin-Whitewater
|
20
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|
Amherst
|
19
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|
Maryville (Tenn.)
|
18
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|
New Jersey City
|
18 ** (17 Division III, 1 Division II)
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St. Thomas
|
18
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Augustana
|
16
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|
Centre
|
16
|
|
Clark (Mass.)
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16
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Randolph-Macon
|
16
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St. John Fisher
|
16
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Stockton
|
16
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Rochester (NY)
|
15
|
|
SUNY Potsdam
|
15
|
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Virginia Wesleyan
|
15
|
|
Williams
|
15
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