Meet the 21 Teams Who Punched Their 2017 NCAA Tickets This Weekend

Over the weekend, 21 teams punched their tickets to the 2017 NCAA Tournament via playoff or conference tournament championships.

A few others have clinched NCAA berths by virtue of clinching regular season titles, but we will get to them later.

First, allow us to introduce all in one place the 21 teams who now know they are in the field, but must wait until Sunday’s NCAA Selection Show to learn their seedings, competiton sites and opponents.

There are two NCAA newcomers among the group, Stony Brook of the America East and Kennesaw State of the Atlantic Sun.

Here is a conference by conference breakdown and a brief look at how they got here.

America East: Stony Brook
The Seawolves (18-12) entered the America East Tournament as the No. 4 seed, but upset top seeded Albany in the semifinals on Friday to earn their first tournament championship appearance since 2011. Once in the final, Stony Brook downed No. 2 seed Binghamton to earn the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth.

Atlantic 10: VCU
The Rams (30-2) edged Dayton in five sets on Sunday to claim their first Atlantic 10 title and earn their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2005. As the regular season champs, VCU earned a bye to the A-10 Tournament semifinals, where the Rams then dispatched No. 5 seed Rhode Island via sweep, setting the finale with the Flyers.

Atlantic Sun: Kennesaw State
The Owls (21-4) won their second consecutive regular season title in 2017, but finally punched the program’s first NCAA ticket with a sweep of No. 3 seed Florida Gulf Coast in the A-Sun Championship match Saturday. As the regular season champions, KSU received a bye into the tournament semifinals, where the team bested No. 4 seed Lipscomb in four sets. The Kennesaw State program is only in its 12th season of existence.

Big Sky: North Dakota
The Fighting Hawks (30-7) are the Big Sky’s NCAA representative for the second straight year after knocking off regular season champ Sacramento State in a five-set affair on Saturday. UND bested No. 7 seed Weber State 3-1 in Thursday’s quarterfinals and No. 3 seed Idaho 3-1 to reach the championship match.

Big South: Radford
The Highlanders (25-4) are making their fourth NCAA tournament berth and first since 2013 after topping regular season champion High Point in four sets on Sunday. Radford made its way to the final with a sweep of No. 6 seed Winthrop in Saturday’s semifinal.

Colonial: James Madison
JMU (23-5) entered the Colonial Athletic Association tournament as the No. 3 seed and upset the event’s top two seeds to nab the league’s automatic NCAA berth. The team’s championship journey began with a five-set win over Elon on Thursday and continued with a sweep of Towson. A sweep of regular season champion College of Charleston put the Dukes through to the NCAA Tournament. It will be JMU’s second straight trip to the NCAAs and the sixth in program history.

Conference USA: Western Kentucky
The Lady Toppers (30-3) earned their fourth straight NCAA berth by taking the Conference USA Tournament title for the fourth time in a row. WKU had to share its 2017 C-USA title with North Texas and was tabbed as the No. 2 seed in the league tournament after falling to the Mean Green in its regular season finale. The Lady Toppers had the final say, however, downing UNT in four sets Sunday to earn the league’s automatic berth. But first, WKU had to get past Charlotte in the quarterfinals and Southern Miss in the semis, doing so in a pair of four-set matches.

Horizon League: Cleveland State
The Vikings (22-7) secured their third straight NCAA berth and third Horizon League Tournament title in a row with a sweep of No. 4 seed Green Bay on Sunday. Cleveland State, which also won the conference’s regular season championship, downed No. 6 seed Northern Kentucky in four sets in Saturday’s semifinals to make the title match.

Ivy League: Princeton
Princeton and Yale each earned a share of the Ivy League regular season title. Since the league does not sponsor a tournament, a one-match playoff was set to determine the conference’s automatic NCAA berth. Princeton (18-7) notched its second straight NCAA berth and the seventh in program history with a sweep of the Bulldogs on Saturday.

Metro Atlantic: Fairfield
A pair of sweeps gave regular season champion Fairfield (25-6) its third straight NCAA Touranment berth and the 10th in program history. The Stags downed Marist on Saturday to earn the championship berth, then took out Iona in the final.

Mid-American: Miami (Ohio)
After earning a bye to the semifinals by virtue of a 13-3 regular season record and tie for the MAC East title, the Redhawks (23-8) defeated No. 4 seed Ohio and No. 6 seed Western Michigan to secure the league’s tournament title and automatic NCAA berth.

Mid-Eastern (MEAC): Howard
The Bison (16-15) earned their third straight MEAC title and NCAA berth, downing South Division co-champ Florida A&M in the tournament championship.  As the No. 2 seed out of the north, Howard faced North Carolina A&T, the No. 3 seed out of the south in the opening round, winning via sweep. The Bison then defeated North No. 4 seed Hampton via sweep in the semifinals, setting up the final meeting with Florida A&M.

Northeast (NEC): LIU Brooklyn
The Blackbirds (20-9) are heading to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year after besting Central Connecticut State in five sets on Saturday to defend their crown. LIU was one of three teams to tie for the NEC regular season title, and earned the tournament’s No. 1 seed via tiebreaker. The Blackbirds defeated Robert Morris in four sets in the tournament semifinals to advance tot he championship match.

Ohio Valley: Austin Peay
The Governors will make their first postseason appearance since 2010 after taking the OVC Tournament crown with a five-set win over Murray State on Saturday. Austin Peay became the conference’s first 30-win team since 1995 at 30-5, while garnering the regular season title and downing Southeast Missouri (3-0) and Eastern Kentucky (3-1) en route to the title appearance.

Patriot League: American
The Eagles secured their fifth straight Patriot League title and fifth straight NCAA with a sweep of Navy in the conference tournament final on Sunday. It marked American’s 15th title in 17 years of membership in the league. A sweep of Lehigh in the semifinals earned the regular season champions a spot in the tournament finale.

Southern: East Tennesee State
The Buccaneers (19-11) are making their second NCAA appearance after downing Wofford in straight sets on Sunday. ETSU earned its first postseason berth since 2012 by securing the SoCon Tournament title. The No. 2 seeded Bucs used sweeps of No. 7 seed Western Carolina and No. 3 seed UNC Greensboro to reach the championship stage.

Southland: Central Arkansas
UCA (27-4) is on to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013 after adding the 2017 Southland Tournament title to its trophy case with a sweep of Abilene Christian on Sunday. The league tournament championship, the third in program history, came as the No. 2 seeded Sugar Bears downed No. 7 McNeese State in four sets on Friday and bested No. 3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in five sets on Saturday to make the finals.

Southwestern (SWAC): Alabama State
Alabama State (28-10) claimed its fourth NCAA berth in the last five seasons as well as back-to-back SWAC Tournament crowns with a four-set win over Texas Southern on Sunday. The Hornets, which also won the SWAC regular season title back on Oct. 30, began their title run with a four-set win over No. 8 seed Jackson State and a sweep of No. 4 Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the semifinals.

Sun Belt: Coastal Carolina
The Chanticleers (20-7) won the Sun Belt regular season title and went on to claim the league’s tournament title with a four-set win over Texas State on Sunday. The victory secured CCU its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament berth and second as a member of the Sun Belt, reaching the championship match after defeating No. 4 seed Arkansas State in Saturday’s semfinals.

Summit League: Denver
The Pioneers (21-5) will make their fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance after securing their fourth-straight Summit League Tournament title with a four-set win over Oral Roberts on Sunday. Denver, which also won the league’s regular season title, swept North Dakota State in Saturday’s semifinals to earn a shot at the tournament championship.

Western Athletic (WAC): Cal State Bakersfield
The Roadrunners (19-13) will return to the NCAAs for the first time since 2014 after notching a pair of upsets in the WAC Tournament over the weekend. CSU Bakersfield bested Seattle U in Thursday’s first round, then ousted regular season champ New Mexico State in four sets on Friday before closing out the title run with a four-set win over Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Saturday.