Chico learns of its next opponent

From Chico State athletics:

"The Chico State men's basketball team won the NCAA Championship Tournament West Regional as the No. 6 seed last weekend. The Wildcats learned Wednesday afternoon that they are the No. 6 seed once again, this time at the Elite Eight. A repeat performance would net the program its first NCAA Division II National Championship.

The Wildcats (26-7) will open in the Elite Eight Wednesday night at 6:30 (Pacific), at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, against a team that nearly reached the promised land last season–the No. 3 seeded Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters.

Lincoln Memorial, 29-5, captured its second consecutive Southeast Region championship on Tuesday night with an 82–68 win over No. 6 Queens at the Levine Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Railsplitters will be looking to make their second straight run to the NCAA Division II National Championship game. They lost to Augustana in last season's title game.

Chico State and Lincoln Memorial have never met. And they shared no common opponents this season.

Lincoln Memorial is a private university in Harrogate, Tennessee, nestled in the Appalachian Mountain Range, and right near the Kentucky and Virginia borders.

The Railsplitters opened the season ranked No. 2 in the nation but got off to a bit of a slow start at 10-4. It's safe to say they got back on track, winning 19 of their last 20.

Chico State took down the West Region's top-three seeds – Western Washington, Hawaii Pacific and UC San Diego – over a four-day period to earn its second trip to the Elite Eight of the past four seasons. The Wildcats caught fire as the region's six-seed after losing four of their final 10 regular-season games and bowing out of the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament in the semifinal round.  

The winner of the Chico State/Lincoln Memorial matchup advances to the national semifinal to play the winner of No. 2 Northwest Missouri State and No. 7 St. Thomas Aquinas on Thursday..."

NCAA Championship Elite Eight Schedule (all times Pacific)
Sioux Falls, S.D. – Sanford Pentagon

Wednesday, March 22 
10:00 a.m. – #8 Rollins (24-10) vs. #1 Fairmont State (32-2)
12:30 p.m. – #5 Colorado School of Mines (30-4) vs. #4 Bellarmine (31-3)
4:00 p.m. – #7 St. Thomas Aquinas (28-5) vs. #2 Northwest Missouri State (32-1)
6:30 p.m. – #6 Chico State (26-7) vs. #3 Lincoln Memorial (29-5)

Thursday, March 23
4:00 p.m. – Rollins/Fairmont State winner vs. Colorado School of Mines/Bellarmine winner
6:30 p.m. – Chico State/Lincoln Memorial winner vs. St. Thomas Aquinas/Northwest Missouri State winner

Saturday, March 25

12:00 p.m. – Championship Game