The Great West Conference (GWC) was an NCAA college athletic conference in the continental United States. Originally a football-only league, it became an all-sports entity during the 2008–09 season. The GWC stopped sponsoring football following the 2011 season. The conference became defunct when four of the remaining five full member schools became members of other conferences on July 1, 2013.
The Horizon League is a 10-school collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, whose members are located in and near the Midwestern United States.
The selection process for college basketball's NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships determines which teams will enter the tournaments and their seedings and matchups in the knockout bracket. Thirty-two teams gain automatic entry through winning their conference's championship. The remaining teams rely on the selection committee to award them an at-large bid in the tournament. The selection process primarily takes place on Selection Sunday and the days leading up to it. Selection Sunday is also when the men's brackets and seeds are released to the public. The women's championship brackets and seeds are announced one day later, on Selection Monday.
The Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represents Michigan State University (MSU) and competes in the Big Ten Conference of NCAA Division I College basketball. Their home games are played at the Breslin Student Events Center. Tom Izzo has been the head coach since 1995. The Spartans have won two NCAA championships and 14 Big Ten Conference Championships. Their two National Championships came in the 1979 NCAA Tournament and the 2000 NCAA Tournament. The 1979 National Championship Game was the most watched college basketball game in history, with 35.11 million television viewers. The 1979 National Championship team was coached by Jud Heathcote and included tournament MVP Magic Johnson, Greg Kelser and Jay Vincent. The Spartans defeated the previously unbeaten Indiana State Sycamores, led by future Hall of Famer Larry Bird. The 2000 National Championship team defeated the Florida Gators in the final. The team was coached by Tom Izzo and led by players Morris Peterson, Charlie Bell, Jason Richardson and tournament MVP Mateen Cleaves.
The Liberty Flames and Lady Flames are the athletics teams of Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. They are a member of the NCAA Division I level in 20 sports. LU is a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference for most sports. Two sports that are not sponsored by the Big South are housed elsewhere. Women's swimming competes in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association. The field hockey team was a member of the Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference before that league's demise after the 2014 season. After playing the 2015 season as an independent, the team joined the Big East Conference in 2016. In football, Liberty participates in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as an independent. The mascot, Sparky, is frequently seen at events. Liberty University is the second youngest school in NCAA Division I, founded in 1971. As a member of the Big South Conference, Liberty regularly competed for the Sasser Cup, which is the trophy for the university which has the best sports program among the member institutions. Liberty won the Sasser Cup 10 times, the most in Big South Conference history.
The 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 77th edition of the tournament began on March 17, 2015, and concluded with the championship game on April 6 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Duke defeated Wisconsin in the championship game, 68–63. Tyus Jones of Duke was the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Gary R. Gilmore is an American college baseball coach who is currently the head coach of the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. He has held the position since the start of the 1996 season. Under him, Coastal Carolina has qualified for 14 NCAA Tournaments, most recently in 2016 where the team made its first appearance in the College World Series and won the 2016 NCAA National Championship.
The 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2015–16 season. The 78th edition of the Tournament began on March 15, 2016, and concluded with the championship game on April 4 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
The 2014 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament was held from May 15 through June 5, 2014 as the final part of the 2014 NCAA Division I softball season. The 64 NCAA Division I college softball teams were selected out of an eligible 293 teams on May 11, 2014. 32 teams were awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conference, and 32 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Softball Selection Committee. The tournament culminated with 8 teams playing in the 2014 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
The 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2016–17 season. The 79th edition of the tournament began on March 14, 2017, and concluded with the championship game on April 3 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The championship game was the first to be contested in a Western state since 1995 when Seattle was the host of the Final Four for that year.
The 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was a single-elimination tournament of 68 teams to determine the men's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college basketball national champion for the 2017–18 season. The 80th annual edition of the tournament began on March 13, 2018, and concluded with the championship game on April 2 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
The Atlantic Coast Conference Softball Tournament is the conference championship tournament in college softball for the Atlantic Coast Conference. It is a single-elimination tournament, with seeding based on regular season records. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Softball Championship each season.
The 2016 Southland Conference tournament was held at Cowgirl Diamond on the campus of McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana from May 11 through May 13, 2016. The tournament winner, the McNeese State Cowgirls, earned the Southland Conference's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament. The Championship game was broadcast on ESPN3 with the remainder of the tournament airing on the Southland Digital Network.
The 2017 OVC Softball Championship was held May 10-14 at Choccolocco Park in Oxford, Alabama. This marked the 24th time the championship had been held and the fifth year it featured eight teams. This year was the second straight year it was held at the neutral site in Oxford instead of on the home field of the No. 1 seed. The tournament winner, Jacksonville State, earned the OVC's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament. All games were streamed courtesy of the OVC Digital Network.
The 2017 Big South Conference Softball Tournament was held at Longwood University's Lancer Field from May 10 through May 14, 2017. Following the departure of Coastal Carolina for the Sun Belt Conference, the Big South reconfigured the tournament to a six-team event. Longwood won their third straight tournament, and fourth of their five seasons in the conference, becoming the first tournament host to win since Radford in 2008.
The 2017 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament is being held from May 18 through June 7, 2017 as the final part of the 2017 NCAA Division I softball season. The 64 participating NCAA Division I college softball teams were selected out of an eligible 293 teams on May 14, 2017. Thirty-two teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences, and the remaining 32 were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I softball selection committee. The tournament culminates with eight teams playing in the 2017 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma would repeat as National Champions, defeating Florida in 2 games.
The 2018 Big South Women's Basketball Tournament was the postseason women's basketball tournament for the Big South Conference that took place from March 8–11, 2018, at the Vines Center in Lynchburg, Virginia. The first round will be broadcast on the Big South Network and Roku, with all remaining games streamed on ESPN3. Liberty, the winner of the Big South Tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Tournament.
The 2018 Big South Conference Softball Tournament was held at Radford University's Radford Softball Stadium from May 9 through May 12, 2018. As in the previous year, the tournament was a six-team field. Liberty won their third ever title, and received an automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament.
The 2018 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament is being held from May 18 through June 6, 2018 as the final part of the 2018 NCAA Division I softball season. Thirty-two teams were awarded automatic bids as champions of their conferences, and the remaining 32 were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I softball selection committee. The tournament culminates with eight teams playing in the 2018 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. This is the first year since the 2010 Women's College World Series that neither the Florida Gators nor the Oklahoma Sooners made the Championship Series. The Florida State Seminoles will play in their first Women's College World Series Championship Series and became the first ACC team to make the Championship Series. The Washington Huskies are making their 4th Appearance in the Championship Series.
