Atlantic Region Men's Basketball '25-'26

[Scrub]

Doesn't seem too far off (predicting lots of close-ish games). But chalk rarely holds quite so easily. Bound to be at least one shocker in the bunch.

[bballfan03]

Here's your Men's Regional, per Massey predictions:


Round 1

Fairmont State - 78
IUP - 75

West Liberty - 83
Virginia Union - 73

Gannon - 87
Charleston - 75

Cal - 85
Fayetteville State - 80


Round 2

West Liberty - 89
Fairmont State - 85

Gannon - 87
Cal - 77


Round 3

Gannon - 95
West Liberty - 89

If there were to be first round upsets, Id predict IUP or Fayetteville.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

If there were to be first round upsets, Id predict IUP or Fayetteville.

I'll put out the Degenerates' Delight official lines tomorrow (for the 1-2 people who enjoy that garbage).

Joe's a neutral court dog but not by much. IUP has a legit shot to win this game. IUP has an awfully good record when they aren't playing Gannon. This game will be much more their style.

Gannon is going to destroy Charleston.

VU beat WL earlier this year but I can't see it happening again.

Cal is the interesting one. The Vulcans can play really good - or pretty so-so. One thing for sure is Fayetteville State isn't going to catch them off guard. Danny obviously knows how to play against the system. The night game is always a bit whacky. Those guys sit around all day. We've seen some strange things happen in Game 4.

[TopperNation]

Here's your Men's Regional, per Massey predictions:


Round 1

Fairmont State - 78
IUP - 75

West Liberty - 83
Virginia Union - 73

Gannon - 87
Charleston - 75

Cal - 85
Fayetteville State - 80


Round 2

West Liberty - 89
Fairmont State - 85

Gannon - 87
Cal - 77


Round 3

Gannon - 95
West Liberty - 89

That WL VS VUU game gives me that "I'm glad that we caught them at the beginning of the season" vibe. If we go by the last game that both teams played, I can see a double digit win by WL.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

2025-26 D2CCA All-Atlantic Region

Men's

First Team

Bryson Lucas - Cal
Dallis Dillard - IUP (Atlantic Region Player of the Year)
Trey Simmons - Frostburg State
Larry Howell - Fayetteville State
Day Waters - Millersville


Second Team

Alex Atkinson - Claflin
Drey Carter - Fairmont State
Boubacar Djigo - Concord
Baden Forup - Pitt-Johnstown
Pace Prosser - Gannon

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Anybody going to go the distance either Friday or Saturday?

In other words watch all four games.

It's probably a small club. I've done it twice (and did three games several times).

It's a long day but pretty cool.

Game 4 is typically pretty surreal. There is nobody in the stands. The home team plays Game 3 and then poof. Humans are gone.

[bballfan03]

Anybody going to go the distance either Friday or Saturday?

In other words watch all four games.

It's probably a small club. I've done it twice (and did three games several times).

It's a long day but pretty cool.

Game 4 is typically pretty surreal. There is nobody in the stands. The home team plays Game 3 and then poof. Humans are gone.

Im definitely going for first 3. My daughter and I went for the first 3 last weekend, with intent to stay for 4th.. and after gannon mens semi we both said nooo lol so we'll probably stay for first 3 again (although she may want to stay for some in anticipation of a possible Cal loss lol)

If anyone didn't see it, the PSAC teams games are on PSAC network it appears. Id assume the W L VUU game is on mec?

nothing for the women.. guess just ncaa.com

[Scrub]

Anybody going to go the distance either Friday or Saturday?

In other words watch all four games.

It's probably a small club. I've done it twice (and did three games several times).

It's a long day but pretty cool.

Game 4 is typically pretty surreal. There is nobody in the stands. The home team plays Game 3 and then poof. Humans are gone.

The year Wheeling hosted was the only year I bought the full weekend pass and went to everything. And that was a crazy tourney (with #8 Mercyhurst beating #1 Wheeling, Kutztown making the Sweet 16, etc.)

[Scrub]

Im definitely going for first 3. My daughter and I went for the first 3 last weekend, with intent to stay for 4th.. and after gannon mens semi we both said nooo lol so we'll probably stay for first 3 again (although she may want to stay for some in anticipation of a possible Cal loss lol)

If anyone didn't see it, the PSAC teams games are on PSAC network it appears. Id assume the W L VUU game is on mec?

nothing for the women.. guess just ncaa.com

I thought I recalled MEC TV putting on all the games last year when it was at WLU. (Thank God the NCAA went away from that pay-per-view model!)

So my assumption was that PSAC TV would do the whole weekend. But I could be wrong.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I thought I recalled MEC TV putting on all the games last year when it was at WLU. (Thank God the NCAA went away from that pay-per-view model!)

So my assumption was that PSAC TV would do the whole weekend. But I could be wrong.

I'd guess they will. For whatever reason IUP always puts the links up the day of the event.

[Ship69]

Anybody going to go the distance either Friday or Saturday?

In other words watch all four games.

It's probably a small club. I've done it twice (and did three games several times).

It's a long day but pretty cool.

Game 4 is typically pretty surreal. There is nobody in the stands. The home team plays Game 3 and then poof. Humans are gone.

I'd like to get to a regional one of these years, but I'm not especially enamored of Erie as a destination.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The moment you've all (not really) been waiting for ... the official betting lines for Day 1.

As always, happy gambling, you degenerates.


(3) Fairmont State vs (6) IUP - Joe and his Redshirts - in theory - got a break by drawing a 'non-system' team in Round 1. Granted, getting assigned Fairmont State isn't some favor from the NCAA. But, the Falcons at least play a similar style to IUP. Joe hasn't beat an up-tempo team in 10 years. But, his record against every other team is pretty strong. Fairmont State has a better, more-balanced roster than IUP -- but, not by a whole lot. IUP gets one edge as its already played two games this year inside the building formerly known as the Hammermill. On paper, this is a pretty even matchup. IUP has to survive the FSU bursts, but also cash in on their slumps. The best PSAC comparison of Fairmont State is a hybrid version of Millersville and California. The guards are pretty even -- IUP may have a slight advantage. However, FSU may have a big advantage underneath. Joe's interior -- 3 of the 4 are more guard than forward -- is going to have its hands full. Don't be shocked if IUP wins this game outright, but the underground casino data and analytics points to the Falcons -- in a very, very tight one. IUP can be tricky to play in a slow-down game. This is the UPSET ALERT game of Day 1. FSU -1.5

(2) West Liberty vs (7) Virginia Union - These two teams played way back on Nov. 18. Virginia Union won, 94-88. An odd thing that day was West Liberty lost the first half and the second half. That's fairly rare. But, that was then. VU enters the Regional on a two-game skid. WL is fresh off winning the MEC Tournament (although they didn't look their normal self in a couple of those games). This will be Union's 4th game this season against the up-tempo system. They split with Fayetteville State. The way their season ended, however, has the gambling alarms sounded. The CIAA hasn't fared well in the Regional as of late. Tomorrow isn't likely to change that narrative. WL -9.5

(8) Charleston at (1) Gannon - The Knights have had a bad taste in the mouth going on a week now. That's not good news for the visitors. Granted, Charleston is quite familiar with the style Gannon plays. This is going to be a very tough environment for the road team. That said, Cal has given teams a blueprint. Executing it is a different matter. But, the Vulcans have exposed some weaknesses in this current Gannon team. Odds are Charleston will be overwhelmed tomorrow. The Knights will be fired up. The crowd will be nuts and extremely loud inside that old-school gymnasium. Stranger things have happened but the odds are stacked against Charleston. All the pressure is on Gannon. GU -12.5

(4) California vs (5) Fayetteville State - The dreaded Day 1 night cap. It's a shame nobody will see it in person because this could be a thriller. These teams match up very evenly. Obviously the Vulcans have played Gannon three times this year (winning two of them) so they know what's coming. Danny Sancomb has played against versions of this system for two decades. One thing to keep in mind is Cal, overall, has an interior edge against Gannon. That won't be the case tomorrow. Fayetteville has a slew of big bodies under the basket, along with a number of very good, big guards. This is also a matchup of league champions. Ironically, they are both champions most didn't see coming. Cal has been a tricky bet all year. They've had some real duds at times this season. But, when they are on, they are really on. This could be the most entertaining game of the day. Cal -2.5

[Scrub]

If we're picking a bracket, I think I like IUP, WLU, Gannon, & Cal to get through the first round, but I'm not overly confident in 3 of those picks (you can guess which one I'm confident about).

[Chuck Norris]

Anybody going to go the distance either Friday or Saturday?

In other words watch all four games.

It's probably a small club. I've done it twice (and did three games several times).

It's a long day but pretty cool.

Game 4 is typically pretty surreal. There is nobody in the stands. The home team plays Game 3 and then poof. Humans are gone.

Unless one of my kids gets really into D2 basketball down the line I think my window for ever giving that a try has closed. The one year I absolutely would have done it was 2010, but the regional was split that year. Even if I could do 3 now, I’m not sure it’s possible that last game of the day could be compelling enough to make me stay.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Unless one of my kids gets really into D2 basketball down the line I think my window for ever giving that a try has closed. The one year I absolutely would have done it was 2010, but the regional was split that year. Even if I could do 3 now, I’m not sure it’s possible that last game of the day could be compelling enough to make me stay.

The killer with going the distance at the KCAC is the food sucks. You're probably looking at being inside there from 11:30 a.m. until close to 10 p.m.

By policy, they have no re-entry. Obviously there are ways around this for the regulars.

The nice thing at the KCAC is the upper concourse. You can easily watch the games from up there if you want to get up and move around.

The major drawback is they add the press row to the non-benches side of the court. It hurts the atmosphere in there as the crowd is typically 18" from the line. On top of it, like 2-3 people sit at that long press row and the other 30 seats are empty. I think it also a major safety concern for the players. It's too close.