Bowie State and Virginia Union set to go to NCAA Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Committee announced Sunday the field of 64 teams for the 2004 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship.

Twenty-two conferences have been awarded automatic qualification. The remaining 42 teams were selected at large by the committee.

Eight regional tournaments, consisting of eight teams each, will be conducted March 13, 14 and 16 at regional sites. The eight quarterfinalists will advance to the finals at Centennial Garden in Bakersfield, California, March 24, 25 and 27.

Conferences that received automatic qualification are as follows:

California Collegiate Athletic Association: Cal State San Bernardino
Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference: Pfeiffer
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association: Virginia Union
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Findlay
Great Lakes Valley Conference: Kentucky Wesleyan
Great Northwest Conference: Humboldt State
Gulf South Conference: Montevallo
Heartland Conference: Drury
Lone Star Conference: Tarleton State
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association: Northwest Missouri State
New York Collegiate Athletic Conference: C.W. Post
North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Nebraska-Omaha
Northeast-10 Conference: Massachusetts-Lowell
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference: Northern State
Pacific West Conference: Brigham Young-Hawaii
Peach Belt Conference: Kennesaw State
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference: Indiana (Pa.)
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference: Metro State
South Atlantic Conference: Catawba
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Benedict
Sunshine State Conference: Eckerd
West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Alderson-Broaddus

Those institutions receiving at-large berths are, in alphabetical order, as follows:

Alaska-Anchorage
Alaska-Fairbanks
Armstrong Atlantic
Bemidji State
Bowie State
Bridgeport
Bryant
Cal Poly Pomona
Cal State Bakersfield
Cal State Chico
California (Pennsylvania)
West Virginia State
Cheyney
Columbus State
District of Columbia
Eastern New Mexico
Emporia State
Florida Southern
Francis Marion
Gannon
Henderson State
Indianapolis
Lenoir-Rhyne
Lewis
Mesa State
Michigan Tech
Morehouse
Mount Olive
Nebraska-Kearney
New Haven
New York Institute of Technology
Philadelphia U.
Rollins
South Dakota
South Dakota State
Southern Indiana
Southern New Hampshire
St. Mary's (Texas)
Texas A&M-Kingsville
Valdosta State
Washburn
Wayne State (Michigan)

Northeastern State defeated Kentucky Wesleyan 75-64 to win the 2003 NCAA Division II Men's Elite Eight in Lakeland, Fla.

The 48th annual championship game will be broadcast live on CBS at 10 a.m. Pacific time (1 p.m. Eastern).