As we hit the final day of the ACAA regular season, everything will be settled on the court in both men's and women's basketball, and we'll find out who's going where.
Women's Basketball
On the women's side, the semifinal hosts are set, as the St. Thomas University Tommies (9-2, #5 in CCAA) and Mount St. Vincent University Mystics (9-2, #9 in CCAA) have clinched byes to the ACAA's Final Four. However, the seedings are yet to be worked out.
The Tommies effectively control their own fate, as the final Mystics game against University of King's College was abandoned due to COVID-19 concerns, meaning winning percentages take precedence in determining the final standings.
Many eyes will be on Lady Beaverbrook Gym in Fredericton at 4 p.m., as St. Thomas welcomes Holland College (7-4), who have seeding to play for themselves. With Mount Allison (7-4) also having a game abandoned, the matchup in Fredericton will finalize the top four seeds. A St. Thomas victory would give them the top seed and home court throughout the ACAA Women's Basketball Championship while slotting Holland College into the fourth seed, while a Hurricanes win would give them the third seed and knock the Tommies down to second, giving Mount St. Vincent top spot.
Meanwhile, the Blue Devils (4-5) are locked into the fifth seed, meaning the Crandall University Chargers (1-10) and UNB Saint John Seawolves (0-10) will compete in Sunday's play-in game, and the host will be determined by the winner of their regular season finale this afternoon.
Men's Basketball
On the other side of the court, the men's basketball semifinal byes have gone to the Holland College Hurricanes (10-1, #8 in CCAA) and the St. Thomas University Tommies (9-2, #5 in CCAA), and the two teams will square off in Fredericton this evening to determine the overall #1 seed, with the Tommies needing to win by 14 or more to take the tiebreaker advantage.
Meanwhile, Mount Allison (7-5) is locked into the third seed, and will host the winner of tomorrow's play-in game. The UNB Saint John Seawolves (1-10) will be traveling to Halifax one way or another, though today's regular season finale between the Mount St. Vincent University Mystics (4-7) and University of King's College Blue Devils (3-8) will determine the court they're traveling to.
UKC took the first matchup of the season between the two sides, so a win today would give them the head-to-head tiebreaker, while a Mystics victory would give them the fifth seed at worst, with a potential upgrade to fourth if the Crandall University Chargers (6-5) were to lose to the Seawolves this afternoon, as Mount St. Vincent would hold the tiebreaker advantage there.
The ACAA Basketball Championships begin tomorrow with the 7 @ 6 play-in games, with the quarterfinals taking place on Wednesday, March 9, followed by the semifinals on Friday, March 11, with the gold medal games taking place on Sunday, March 13.
The conference champion on both sides will represent the ACAA at the CCAA Basketball National Championships from March 24-27, with the women headed to Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, B.C., while the men's championship will be hosted by Humber College in Etobicoke, Ont.