Sharks Going to the Playoffs - Pairings Set for 2006 SSC Men's & Women's Basketball Championships

The pairings for the 2006 Sunshine State Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships have been announced for the opening and quarterfinal rounds of the event hosted by Saint Leo University.

The NSU men (17-10, 11-5 SSC) earned the second seed and will face Barry University on Thursday in the quarterfinals with opening tip scheduled for 2:30 p.m. The Lady Sharks (15-12, 8-8 SSC) earned the number four seed and will take on tournament host Saint Leo on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the final women's quarterfinal game. All of NSU's games will be broadcast live on the NSU Athletics Audiocast Network.

A total of 16 games-eight men's contests and eight women's games-will be played at the Marion Bowman Activities Center on the Saint Leo campus over a five-day stretch from Wednesday, March 1 through Sunday, March 5. The winners of each single-elimination tournament will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Regionals.

Both championship games will be televised LIVE by Sun Sports on Sunday, March 5. The men's championship is scheduled to tip off at 1:00 p.m., followed by the women's championship game at 3:30 p.m. Please check the Sun Sports website at www.sunsportstv.com for additional information.

By virtue of winning the 2005-06 SSC regular season championships, the Rollins College men's team (20-7, 12-4 SSC) and the Rollins College women's team (26-0, 16-0) will be the respective number one seeds.

Several tiebreakers were utilized to finalize seedings on both sides of the bracket.

In the men's bracket, Nova Southeastern and Lynn finished tied for second place. As the teams split two regular-season games, both teams' records against other SSC teams were compared starting from the top of the standings and working downward. Both teams went 1-1 against Rollins. Against Tampa and Eckerd, the teams tied for fourth place, NSU went a combined 3-1, while Lynn posted a combined 2-2 record. That difference earned the Sharks the #2 seed.

Also in the men's bracket, Tampa earned the #4 seed over Eckerd by virtue of sweeping the regular-season series. In addition, Florida Tech earned the #8 seed over Saint Leo as a result of a win over Tampa as the teams' records down the standings were compared. Florida Tech and Saint Leo split the regular-season series.

In the women's bracket, a three-way tie for fifth place among Saint Leo, Barry and Lynn needed to be broken. In the case of a three-team tie, the first step utilized is a comparison of the tied teams' records in games played against each other. Saint Leo compiled a 3-1 combined record against Barry and Lynn, while Barry posted a 2-2 mark and Lynn went 1-3 in games against the other two teams involved in the tiebreaker.

Women's and men's quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinal round, which will be played on Saturday, March 4. Men's semifinal games will be played at 12:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., while women's semifinal games will tip-off at 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Semifinal winners in both the women's and men's divisions will advance to the respective championship games, which will be played on Sunday, March 6 at the times listed above.

For a complete schedule of the SSC Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament and printable brackets as well as all up-to-date tournament information, please visit http://www.sunshinestateconference.com/bbtourn06.html