NICEVILLE, Fla.- After playing some instant classics over the past few years, the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers and Northwest Florida State Raiders will renew their rivalry in the first round of the FCSAA State/NJCAA Region VIII on Wednesday as the Bucs have drawn the #5 seed for the tournament and matchup with the 4th seeded Raiders on their home floor in Niceville.
The Bucs enter the tournament with a 22-8 record after going 12-4 to finish in 3rd place in the Citrus Conference standings. The Bucs record is a bit deceiving on how their 2023-2024 regular season went as seven of the Bucs eight losses came by five or less points or in overtime this season including two buzzer beating defeats against top five opponents. FSW collected five wins over teams in next week's Region VIII Tournament including one over top seeded Eastern Florida, one over Indian River, a pair over Hillsborough, and one against the final participant Tallahassee who won Thursday's play in game over Miami Dade to punch their ticket.
Northwest Florida will take their home floor with a 26-4 overall record after a 2nd place finish in the Panhandle Conference with a 9-3 record. The Raiders are 6-4 this season against tournament competition.
The Bucs and Raiders hooked up in early December in a thrilling battle that needed more than 40 minutes to decide a winner. Northwest got out to a quick start before FSW stormed back in the second half to tie the game and send it to overtime. The Bucs went cold in overtime and it cost them as Northwest pushed in front and finished off a 74-67 win in the Florida Juco Shootout.
Eastern Florida drew the tournament's top seed while Daytona State was seeded second and was followed by Chipola, Northwest Florida, and FSW.
The Bucs and Raiders will play the final game of day one of the tournament on Wednesday, March 13th, tipping off at 9 PM (ET) from Raider Arena in Niceville. A win would send the Bucs to the semifinals on Friday where they would take on the winner of the Eastern Florida/Hillsborough game in a 4 PM (ET) start.