Lady Eagles stay fifth in latest NCAA region rankings
INDIANAPOLIS – In the final edition of the NCAA's region rankings before Selection Sunday, Carson-Newman stayed fifth in the Southeast Region as announced by the NCAA on Wednesday evening.
INDIANAPOLIS – In the final edition of the NCAA's region rankings before Selection Sunday, Carson-Newman stayed fifth in the Southeast Region as announced by the NCAA on Wednesday evening.
The field for the Southeast Region is comprised of the conference tournament champions from the South Atlantic Conference, Conference Carolinas and the Peach Belt Conference, as well as the top five teams in the region rankings who aren't tournament champions.
Carson-Newman is one of five South Atlantic Schools regionally ranked. Lenoir-Rhyne is ranked first with a 24-4 record, with Lincoln Memorial right behind at number two with a 24-3 record. Coker is right in front of C-N in fourth and Wingate is the fifth school, checking in at seven. None of the South Atlantic Conference schools moved from last week's region rankings.
Columbus State is the highest rated Peach Belt School staying put at number three. USC Beaufort defeated North Georgia this past week, and thus jumped the Nighthawks to move into eighth, with UNG ninth.
Francis Marion is the highest ranked Conference Carolinas school staying in sixth. Belmont Abbey fell one spot to number ten in the rankings.
Based on the metrics, C-N ranks sixth in RPI at .559. Its strength of schedule is .521, 11th-best in the region. C-N's KPI is 40th nationally and fifth-best in the Southeast region.
Among teams that are in the top ten of the region rankings, the Lady Eagles have a 5-6 record.
The selection committee uses these rankings as a guideline to make up the NCAA Tournament field. The top eight teams in the region make the NCAA Tournament with three automatic bids going to the winners of the conference tournaments from the South Atlantic Conference, Conference Carolinas and the Peach Belt Conference. The other five spots will consist of at-large bids.
For the No. 1 team in the region, that school gets to host the Southeast Region tournament from March 13-16. Three wins are needed to advance to the National Quarterfinals which will be played March 24-28 in Pittsburgh, PA at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
The NCAA Selection Show is this Sunday March 8, 2026 at 10:30 p.m.
The Lady Eagles begin South Atlantic Conference play versus fifth-seeded UVA Wise tomorrow at noon. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 11:45 with the AEC Countdown to Tipoff on MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A live stream of the contest is available with a subscription to FloSports. A live camera of the broadcast crew "On Press Row" will also be available on YouTube.
