By RON BALICKI
Senior Writer
Alabama, the No. 1 team in the
Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings, will be the top seed in the Central Regional, the NCAA Men’s Division I Golf Committee announced May 5.
Second-ranked Georgia is the top seed in the East Regional, and No. 3 USC tops the West. All three 54-hole regionals will be played May 15-17 and feature 27 teams and six individual players. The top 10 teams and low two individuals not among those teams advancing will move on to the NCAA Championship May 28-31 at Purdue’s Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind.
This year’s 81 regular season graduates includes 28 conference champions (automatic qualifiers) and 53 at-large selections. This is a change from previous years, when each of the nine districts were allotted a certain number of guaranteed spots in regional competition.
For the first time since the inception of region championship in 1989, Arizona is not in the postseason, a product of this season’s new .500 Rule, which requires at-large teams to have a .500 or better won-loss record against Division I teams to be eligible. The No. 56 Wildcats finished the season 83-85-2.
Also affected by the new rule were No. 48 Vanderbilt (70-77-5), No. 63 Northwestern (67-74-1), No. 69 and Big Ten Conference runner-up Minnesota (51-94-1) and No. 76 Notre Dame (59-75-6).
• • •
Ron Balick is a Golfweek senior writer. To reach him e-mail rbalicki@golfweek.com.
EAST REGIONAL (May 15-17)
Council Fire Golf Club – Chattanooga, Tennessee
Hosted by University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Georgia
2. Charlotte (Atlantic 10 Conference)
3. South Carolina
4. Duke
5. Chattanooga (Southern Conference)
6. Auburn
7. East Tennessee State
8. Michigan State (Big 10)
9. Mississippi
10. UAB (Conference USA)
11. Virginia Tech
12. North Carolina State
13. Mississippi State
14. Georgia State (Colonial Athletic Conference)
15. North Florida (Atlantic Sun Conference)
16. UC Irvine (Big West Conference)
17. Augusta State
18. SMU
19. Middle Tennessee
20. Coastal Carolina (Big South Conference)
21. Memphis
22. Virginia
23. Western Carolina
24. Colorado State (Mountain West Conference)
25. New Mexico State (Western Athletic Conference)
26. Western Illinois (The Summit League)
27. Jackson State (Southwestern Athletic Conference)
Individuals:1. Keegan Bradley, St. John’s (New York)
2. Jose Toledo, New Orleans
3. Johnny Caldwell, South Alabama
4. Michael McGrady, Troy
5. Jon Curran, Vanderbilt
6. Grant Leaver, Austin Peay State
• • •
CENTRAL REGIONAL (May 15-17)
Scarlet Golf Course – Columbus, Ohio
Hosted by The Ohio State University
Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Alabama (Southeastern Conference)
2. Oklahoma State (Big 12 Conference)
3. Georgia Tech
4. Florida
5. Tennessee
6. Lamar (Southland Conference)
7. Wake Forest
8. Indiana
9. Texas A&M
10. Louisville
11. Wichita State (Missouri Valley Conference)
12. Kent State
13. Penn State
14. Arkansas
15. Michigan
16. TCU
17. Texas-Arlington
18. Illinois
19. Ohio State
20. Baylor
21. Colorado
22. Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley Conference)
23. Marquette (Big East Conference)
24. Eastern Michigan (Mid-American Conference)
25. Cleveland State (Horizon League)
26. Loyola (Maryland) (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference)
27. Sacred Heart (Northeast Conference)
Individuals:1. Chris Baker, Iowa State
2. Clayton Rask, Minnesota
3. Josh Sandman, Notre Dame
4. Victor Almstrom, Minnesota
5. Brent Long, Western Kentucky
6. Jordan Weber, Northern Iowa
• • •
WEST REGIONAL (May 15-17)
Gold Mountain Golf Club – Bremerton, Washington
Hosted by University of Washington
Teams (seeded in the following order):
1. Southern California
2. UCLA
3. Florida State (Atlantic Coast Conference)
4. Stanford
5. Clemson
6. UNLV
7. North Carolina
8. Texas Tech
9. Central Florida
10. Arizona State (Pacific-10 Conference)
11. San Diego State
12. Texas
13. LSU
14. Oregon State
15. Pepperdine
16. Oregon
17. California
18. St. Mary’s (California)
19. Kentucky
20. Wisconsin
21. Washington
22. Oklahoma
23. Kansas State
24. San Diego (West Coast Conference)
25. Denver (Sun Belt Conference)
26. Navy (The Patriot League)
27. Columbia (Ivy Group)
Individuals:1. Troy Merritt, Boise State
2. Brian Locke, Loyola Marymount
3. Tarquin Macmanus, Arizona
4. Jason D’Amore, Loyola Marymount
5. Nathan Stamey, North Carolina-Greensboro
6. Jimmy Lytle, Elon
Posted: 5/5/2008
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