INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (March 8) – Central Oklahoma will look to defend its South Central Regional title and make a repeat trip to the Elite Eight this week when the Bronchos begin play in the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship.

UCO received an at-large berth in the 64-team national tournament field and will go to Warrensburg, Mo. for the South Central Regional.  The Bronchos, 24-5 on the year, are the No. 3 seed and will take on Dallas Baptist at 12 p.m. Saturday in the first round.

Click here for ticket information.  A pre-tournament banquet will be held at 7 p.m. Friday in the Elliott Union Ballroom on the UCM campus and fans can attend for $15.  Seats must be purchased by 5 p.m. Wednesday (660-543-4250).

Other opening-round games have top-seeded No. 2 seed Southwest Baptist going against Angelo State at 2:30 p.m., Central Missouri playing Texas A&M-Kingsville at 6 p.m. and No. 4 seed Midwestern State taking on Incarnate Word at 8:30 p.m.

Semifinal games on Sunday pit the UCO/DBU winner against the ASU/SBU winner at 4 p.m. and the MSU/UIW winner against the UCM/TAMUK winner at 6:30 p.m.  The championship finals are set for 7 p.m. Tuesday. 

Eight regional tournaments will be held around the country this week, with the champions advancing to the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass. March 25-28.

It will be the 10th Division II national tournament appearance for the Bronchos, who won last year's South Central Regional crown in Stephenville, Texas as the No. 3 seed in advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1992.

“We showed last year that you can win our regional as the third seed and that's what we're going to try and do again,” said head coach Terry Evans, who has taken five of his seven UCO teams to the national tournament.  “It's an honor to be back in the playoffs and we're ready to see what we can do.”