Elite Eight: Meet the teams competing for the D-II men's basketball title in Evansville
A national champion will be crowned this week inside Ford Center with the return of the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Elite Eight.
Will No. 2 seed Nova Southeastern defend its title? Or will another victor emerge? Evansville has hosted the Elite Eight since 2019 and the tournament will return next year before it moves in 2026 to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Games begin Tuesday and conclude Saturday with the national championship on CBS.
Let's get to know the participating teams in order of their seeding.
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No. 1 Minnesota State
Location: Mankato, Minnesota (44,693 population)
Mascot: Stomper the Maverick, a caricature of a wild, powerful steer — unbranded and unyielding. Not to be confused with another Stomper, the Oakland Athletics' lovable elephant mascot.
Trip to Evansville: 688 miles
Record: 32-2. The Mavericks are in their first Elite Eight since 2011 after upsetting D-II power Northwest Missouri State at the buzzer in the Central Region. They are riding a 13-game winning streak.
Famous alumni: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Carolina Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen, former NHL player David Backes and billionaire Glen Taylor, who owns the Minnesota Timberwolves.
No. 2 Nova Southeastern
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida (population: 181,668)
Mascot: Razor the Shark. The “handsome beast,” as the school’s website describes, can be seen on his Shark Cart and watching Discovery Channel.
Trip to Evansville: 1,044 miles
Record: 30-2. The defending national champions are back in the Elite Eight for the fourth time in five tournaments — all under coach Jim Crutchfield and their only appearances in program history. They have won 18 straight games going back to Jan. 13
Famous alumni: St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas, former Houston Astros pitcher Mike Fiers and New York Mets outfielder J.D. Martinez.
No. 3 Gannon
Location: Erie, Pennsylvania (population: 93,999)
Mascot: Victor E. Knight, formerly known as Drake the Golden Knight. Other finalists when the mascot was being renamed in 2012 included Storm E. Knight and Luckey Knight.
Trip to Evansville: 563 miles
Record: 32-2. First-year coach Jordan Fee is back in the Elite Eight for the third consecutive season after being an assistant at Nova Southeastern. Gannon won the Atlantic Region with a buzzer-beater in the championship — its only lead all game.
Famous alumni: Many Pennsylvania congresspeople as well as the past two mayors of Erie. Gannon's most notable former athlete was Steve Grilli, an MLB pitcher in the 1970s.
No. 4 West Texas A&M
Location: Canyon, Texas (Population: 13,303)
Mascot: Bucky the Buff, as in a buffalo, an animal that reaches around 9 feet in length and up to 2,000 pounds in weight.
Trip to Evansville: 936 miles.
Record: 29-4. The Buffaloes were the top-ranked team for much of the season before losing three of four entering the D-II tournament. They were the runner-up in 2021 when they last made the Elite Eight.
Famous alumni: NBA Hall of Famer Maurice Cheeks, two-time Super Bowl champion running back Mercury Morris, former Louisville football coach Steve Kragthorpe and Manny Fernandez, a wrestler known as "The Raging Bull."
No. 5 North Georgia
Location: Dahlonega, Georgia (population: 6,54)
Mascot: Nigel the Nighthawk. A nighthawk, as you might have guessed, is a nocturnal bird.
Trip to Evansville: 384 miles
Record: 28-6. North Georgia is making its first Elite Eight appearance in a historic season. It also won its first conference tournament championship. Maybe leading scorer Frank Champion, averaging 17.6 points, will live up to his name this week.
Famous alumni: Singer-songwriter Shaun Mullins, whose 1998 single "Lullaby" topped the charts and was nominated for a Grammy.
No. 6 Cal State San Bernardino
Location: San Bernardino, California (population: 222,203)
Mascot: Cody the Coyote. Cody used to have a “companion” named Cadee, but they were never named as an official mascot. Unfortunate.
Trip to Evansville: 1,956 miles
Record: 26-7. One of three schools that also appeared in last year's Elite Eight, the Coyotes are the West Region champions again. They lost in the Final Four to eventual champion Nova Southeastern.
Famous alumni: UFC lightweight fighter Ernest Chavez, former NBA forward Ivan Johnson, Hawaii women’s basketball coach Laura Beeman
No. 7 Southern New Hampshire
Location: Manchester, New Hampshire (population: 115,461)
Mascot: Petey Penmen. He's a Revolutionary War soldier named after the team's nickname, the Penmen, which is an homage to the university's history as an accounting school.
Trip to Evansville: 1,137 miles
Record: 24-10. The Penmen are the seventh East Region team to make the Elite Eight in as many seasons. They finished their region championship on a 17-0 run over the final six-plus minutes.
Famous alumni: Tanzania president Samia Suluhu and Ron Fortier, known for his Green Hornet and The Terminator comic books.
No. 8 Ferris State
Location: Big Rapids, Michigan (population: 8,976)
Mascot: Brutus the Bulldog. Sadly, Brutus is not a real dog. Ferris State teams were once called Ferrisites, a sound away from "parasites," until they became the Bulldogs in 1931.
Trip to Evansville: 484 miles
Record: 28-7. Ferris State was the No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region, the lowest regional seed of any team in the Elite Eight. They won the national championship during their last appearance in 2018.
Famous alumni: Former Tennessee football coach Butch Jones, Tampa Bay Buccaneers cornerback Tavierre Thomas, Miami Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler and retired MLB umpire Jeff Kellogg.
2024 NCAA Division II Elite Eight schedule
Tuesday
Noon – No. 3 Gannon vs. No. 6 CSUSB
2:30 p.m. – No. 2 Nova Southeastern vs. No. 7 Southern New Hampshire
6 p.m. – No. 1 Minnesota State vs. No. 8 Ferris State
8:30 p.m. – No. 4 West Texas A&M vs. No. 5 North Georgia
Thursday
1 p.m. – Semifinal #1 (CBS Sports Network)
3:30 p.m. – Semifinal #2 (CBS Sports Network)
Saturday
2 p.m. – National championship (CBS)
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Division II Elite Eight: Meet the 2024 teams headed to Evansville
