The California Baptist continued a dream season on Saturday by winning the Western Athletic Conference tournament and adding another victory to its perfect 24-0 record. Just three years after moving up from Division II, the Lancers are now the only unbeaten team in women’s college basketball.
However, the story will not continue in the NCAA Tournament.
Despite California Baptist’s victory over Grand Canyon in the finals of the conference, it’s rather Utah Valley that gets the WAC’s automatic bid on March Madness. California Baptist would rather go to the NIT for women. The reason: the Lancers got good too soon.
Cal Baptist Stumbles Into Strange NCAA Rule
This is only the third season of California Baptist at Division I level, and the NCAA requires a four-year transition period in which reclassification of its most prestigious tournament is prohibited.
A similar situation would have played out with the men’s tournament if Northern Alabama, also in a Division I transition, had beaten Liberty in the Atlantic Sun final. Due to the ban on North Alabama after the season, Liberty actually became the first team in the country to clinch a place in the men’s tournament.
In the case of California Baptist, Utah Valley was predetermined to get the bid based on its 10-4 record in conference.
Why would the NCAA teams that have just joined Division I refrain from competing for championships? Because it already has enough Section I programs. There are more than 350 Division I basketball teams on the men’s and women’s side, and allowing teams direct access to March Madness will increase a number that is really not needed. The seven-figure financial hurdles, of course, do all the decent work of keeping teams down.
However valid, the result is that California Baptist will not get the chance to test himself to the best of the country this month.
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