No. 4 Men's Hoops to Host Chatham University in NCAA Tournament First Round

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The nationally-ranked No. 4 University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team received an at-large bid and was selected as a host site for the NCAA Tournament First Round and Second Round for the first time in program history, it was announced Monday afternoon. The Blue Jays are set to face the Chatham University Cougars in the West Hartford Regional in the First Round of the 2023 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament in West Hartford, Conn. The Blue Jays looked on in anticipation during the squad's viewing party, as each of the 64 teams in the bracket were revealed Monday afternoon in a live selection show on www.NCAA.com. With the selection, the Blue Jays became the first-ever Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball team to receive an at-large berth and to serve as a host site in the NCAA Tournament.

OFFICIAL NCAA RELEASE | NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET

USJ was selected to serve as a host site for the NCAA Tournament First Round and Second Round, March 3-4, with games set to be played inside James A. Calhoun Gymnasium in West Hartford, Conn. The host Blue Jays will play the Chatham Cougars in the second game of the West Hartford Regional on Friday, March 3 at 6:45 p.m. Joining USJ and Chatham in the 'pod' is No. 25 Pomona-Pitzer and No. 14 Williams College. The Sagehens and Ephs will play in their First Round contest prior to the USJ-Chatham game, with tipoff set for 4:15 p.m. The single-elimination tournament continues on Saturday March 4, with the two winners going head-to-head at 6:45 p.m. for the right to advance to the Third Round, which takes place the following weekend. Information regarding tickets coming soon.

THE COMPETITION

The West Hartford Regional features one conference champion and three at-large selections. Chatham was the lone automatic qualifier, capturing the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship. Williams (22-4), ranked No. 14 in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25, fell in the semifinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), No. 25 Ponoma-Pitzer (20-6) lost in the semifinals of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), and No. 4 Saint Joseph (27-1) fell in the GNAC Championship. 

Chatham

The Pittsburgh, Pa.-based Cougars (17-11) won their second-ever PAC Championship last Saturday, 76-73, over second-seeded Allegheny to clinch the league's automatic qualifier. The conference title was the first for Chatham since achieving the same feat in 2018-19. In the 2019 NCAA Tournament, the Cougars bowed out in the opening round, 77-48, to North Central.

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Pomona-Pitzer

The nationally-ranked No. 25 Sagehens (20-6), earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, after falling in the semifinals of the SCIAC Tournament to eventual champions Cal-Lutheran. Pomona-Pitzer, which is located in Claremont, Calif., will make the cross-country trek for their 12th appearance in the national tournament, and fourth in a row. Last season, the Sagehens defeated Northwestern (Minn.) in the opening round, 67-66, before falling to eventual finalist Elmhurst, 76-70, in the second round.

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Williams

The nationally-ranked No. 14 Ephs (22-4) also received an at-large bid to this year's NCAA Tournament after falling in the semifinal of the NESCAC Tournament to Colby College. The Ephs will be making their 19th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and their seventh in the past decade. Williams has won a national championship in their history, taking home the trophy in 2003. Last year, the Eph's advanced to the Sweet Sixteen after defeating Neumann, 95-57, in the opening round and Stevens, 71-61, in round two. The Ephs run came to an end against Wabash, 73-59.

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USJ

The No. 4-ranked Blue Jays (27-1) earned the GNAC's first-ever at-large berth to the Big Dance after falling in the GNAC title game to intrastate rivals Albertus Magnus on Sunday. The Blue Jays will be making their third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance though with their first coming in the 2020 NCAA Tournament. USJ was knocked out in the NCAA First Round in 2021 by Penn State Harrisburg, 63-53, at WPI in the Worcester Regional.

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THE TOURNAMENT

The championship provides for a 64-team tournament. Automatic qualification (AQ) is granted to 44 conference champions, which form "Pool A." The remaining 20 teams are selected from those teams in conferences with automatic bids that did not win their conference's AQ and the remaining Pool B institutions (Pool C). The teams are geographically paired, whenever possible.

Interactive Bracket | Regional Rankings | NCAA Stats

Sixteen sites will host four teams for first- and second-round competition Friday-Saturday, March 3-4. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional sites March 10-11. Winners of the four sectional championship games will advance to the semi-finals and finals March 16 and 18. All games, except the semi-finals and finals, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The semi-finals and finals will be held at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays will compete in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament against Chatham University on Friday, March 3 at 6:45 p.m., inside James A. Calhoun Gymnasium, on the campus of USJ. Information regarding tickets coming soon.

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