NICEVILLE, Fla.- The Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers drew the #7 seed for next week's FCSAA State/NJCAA Region VIII Tournament in Niceville, Florida and will take on the defending National Champion and host Northwest Florida State Raiders in the opening round Thursday at 2 PM (ET).
FSW heads to Niceville at 16-13 overall after finishing 12-9, good for fourth place in the Citrus Conference standings. After struggling most of the season offensively, the Bucs got things going on the offensive end in their final three games of the regular season, averaging 81.7 points per game, going 2-1 during that span. The Bucs have three wins against teams participating in the tournament this year with one against Indian River and two against a potential second round opponent in Hillsborough.
The Bucs will take on the defending National Champion Northwest Florida State Raiders who will take their home floor with a 24-3 record. The Raiders shared the Panhandle Conference Championship with Gulf Coast State and are ranked #5 in the latest NJCAA National Poll.
Gulf Coast took the #1 overall seed with Northwest Florida following at #2, Citrus Conference Champions Eastern Florida at #3, and Chipola at #4 as the top four seeds for the tournament.
The Bucs will play the first game of the tournament Thursday, March 14th at 2 PM (ET) and would advance to the semifinals Friday at 7 PM (ET) if they could pull the upset of the Raiders.