Yesterday was the final regular season game for many junior college programs around the country. For the NJCAA D1 programs ranked in the Top 25, these games have a strong impact on the four at-large bids. Along with the four true at-large bids, there are four additional zone bids that rotate every year to a different district.

Each district has a different way to award their zone bid. Most give the additional zone at-large bid to the team that wins the regular season conference championship (if that team doesn’t win the district tournament) or the runner up from the district tournament.

The four zone bids come from districts 1, 8, 9, and 16. This means that there will be at least two teams from each of those districts that will make the NJCAA D1 National Tournament. Here’s a quick look at the states that are included in the regions that make up these four districts.

District 1 (Regions 1 & 18): Consists of Idaho, Utah and Arizona JC’s as well as Colorado Northwest. The College of Southern Idaho is the top team in this district with a 28-2 record.

District 8 (Region 8): Consists of all Florida junior colleges. Region 8 has two teams in the top 10 in NW Florida State and Eastern Florida according to last week’s NJCAA D1 Top 25 Poll.

District 9 (Region 9): Consists of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and a portion of Nebraska JC’s. Northwest College was the highest ranked team in last week’s poll at #15.

District 16 (Regions 12 & 24): Consists of Illinois JC’s that aren’t in the Chicago area as well as Vincennes, which is the only NJCAA D1 school in region 24.  The top team in this region is obviously Vincennes. VU is currently 27-0 and ranked #1 in the country.

Now that we have covered the four rotating zone bids, it’s time to take a look at how some of the top teams in the country fared this week with the four true at-large bids up for grabs. The NJCAA D1 At-Large Selection Committee selects the four true at-large teams. These bids seem to go to the highest ranked teams (based on the final NJCAA D1 Top 25 Poll) that don’t win their district tournament.

1) Vincennes (28-0): Vincennes knocked off Southeastern Illinois 87-70 on Sunday. VU has two games coming up this week. They play at Lewis and Clark CC on Feb 25th and host Kaskaskia on Feb 28th to finish out the regular season.

2) Hill College (27-2): Hill lost their final game of the regular season yesterday to Temple College by a score of 90-88.

3) NW Florida State (26-2): NW Florida St lost their second game of the year on Wednesday to Gulf Coast State. Gulf Coast has beaten NW Florida two times this year.  NW FL knocked off Chipola yesterday 86-70 to finish out their regular season.

4) Connors State (27-1): Connors won two games last week by beating Seminole State and Northern Oklahoma Tonkawa. Connors plays their final two games this week against Murray St (away) and home against Carl Albert. Look for Connors State to jump to #2 in the country in the next Top 25 Poll.

5) College of Southern Idaho (28-2): CSI lost their second game of the year in overtime against Salt Lake CC on Thursday. They knocked off Snow College on Saturday in their final regular season game.

6) Eastern Florida (27-3): Eastern Florida beat #24 Broward College on Saturday by a score of 95-76 in their final regular season game.

7) Trinity Valley CC (26-3): TVCC won two games last week against Navarro and Bossier Parish CC. TVCC plays at Paris JC on February 28 in their final regular season game.

8) Butler CC (27-2): Butler won two games last week over Cloud County CC and Seward. They play their final regular season game on February 25 at home against Dodge City CC.

9) Indian Hills CC (26-4): Indian Hills split two games last week losing to Moberly Area CC last week and then knocked off Northeast CC on Saturday in their final regular season game of the year.

10) Harcum JC (27-3): Harcum won both games last week knocking off Globe Tech and ASA. They are now finished with their regular season schedule.

11) SW Tennessee CC (20-3): SW Tennessee was scheduled to play their final two regular season games on February 20 and 21. Those games were canceled due to inclement weather. Those games are now scheduled for February 23 and 24 against Chattanooga State and Cleveland State.

12) Mineral Area (24-3): Mineral Area won both of their games last week in convincing fashion. They beat St. Louis CC and State Fair to finish out their regular season schedule.

13) San Jacinto – Central (24-4): San Jac won two games last week and has two games left on their schedule this week.  They play Coastal Bend at home on Feb 25 and play at Lee College on Feb 28 to finish out the regular season.

14) Williston State (25-4): Williston won both of their games last week by beating Bismarck State and United Tribes Tech.

15) Northwest College (26-4): Northwest won both of their games last week against Central Wyoming and Western Wyoming. Their regular season schedule is now complete.