NICEVILLE, Fla.- Winners of six in a row heading into the postseason, the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers have learned of their first round matchup at the NJCAA Region VIII Tournament next week in Niceville as the 6th seeded Bucs will take on Panhandle Conference Co-Champion and 3rd seeded Tallahassee on Thursday at 3 PM Central Time.
FSW heads to the tournament as the six seed at 20-8 on the season after winning their final five Southern Conference games of the season to finish as the runners-up. They will take on a Tallahassee squad that was ranked 7th in the final NJCAA National Rankings of the season, going into the postseason at 26-4 on the year. The Bucs and Eagles paths have not crossed since last year in the Florida Juco Shootout in Melbourne in which FSW took a grinding 61-55 over Tallahassee.
Joining the Bucs and the Eagles on the top half of the bracket are Central Conference foes Daytona State, the two seed, and Eastern Florida, the seven seed, who will play for the fourth time this year. The other half of the bracket will see top seeded Chipola square off with Miami Dade and Indian River and Northwest Florida go head to head in the 4/5 game.
The Men's portion of the tournament begins on March 9th in Niceville with three consecutive days of action. The tournament final will be on March 11th at 7:30 PM with the winner moving on to the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson.