Columbus State, Armstrong Atlantic State Advance to NCAA Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS, IND -- Columbus State and Armstrong Atlantic State learned on Monday night that they are among the 48 teams that will compete for the national championship as the NCAA released the tournament field from Indianapolis. Columbus State will be the #2 seed and host a three-team sub-regional that will feature third-seeded Armstrong Atlantic State. Play will begin this Friday in Columbus.

The Pirates (15-3-3) are the No. 3 seed in the Southeast Region and will face sixth-seeded Belmont Abbey (14-5) on Friday, November 13, in Columbus, Ga. The winner of the AASU/Belmont Abbey match will face the Cougars on Sunday, November 15.

CSU will play host for the event for the third consecutive year and is making its fourth overall tournament appearance. CSU has advanced to the NCAA quarterfinal round in each of the last two seasons, hosting that round in 2007.

This is the third NCAA Championships appearance for the Armstrong Atlantic State in the five-year history of the program. AASU advanced to the NCAAs in 2006 and 2007, but earned at-large berths each season. This is the first year that the Pirates have earned the Peach Belt Conference's automatic bid for winning the league tournament.

The other half of the six-team Southeast Region bracket pits No. 4 seed Tusculum (14-4-3) against No. 5 seed Newberry (13-4-2) on Friday in Jefferson City, Tenn. Host and top-seed Carson-Newman (18-2-1) will face the Tusculum/Newberry winner on Sunday.

The two finalists in each region will advance to the third- and quarterfinal-round competition to be played Friday, November 20 and Sunday, November 22. The semifinals and championship games will be played and December 3 & 5 at the University of Tampa in Tampa, Florida.

View the complete bracket here.