Conference Carolinas alters basketball tournament format

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 18, 2013 1:48 PM

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Conference Carolinas

HIGH POINT -- Conference Carolinas officials have decided to stage their own "final four" for the season-ending men's and women's basketball tournaments.

For the first time in more than a decade, the final four teams -- men and women -- will play at a neutral site. The Cabarrus Arena and Events Center in Concord has agreed to host the tournaments, which determine automatic qualifiers to the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional.

Previous conference tournaments operated under the format where lower-seeded teams would travel to higher-seeded opponents. The new format will reduce travel, house eight teams in one facility and allow more fans to attend.

"We are so excited to have a neutral site basketball championship for the league again," Brook Patterson, associate commissioner for Conference Carolinas said. "For the last 11 years we have had our basketball championships hosted by different member schools and we hope by bringing everyone here together more centrally we can provide an extraordinary experience for our student-athletes and fans."

Quarterfinal-round play begins March 1 at the higher-seeded teams. The remaining teams will advance to Concord, and participate in a pre-tournament banquet and awards ceremony.

Admission is free with a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, one of many fundraisers conducted on a yearly basis by Division II schools throughout the country.