Jacksonville State to face Georgia Tech in NCAA Regional
Published 12:00 am Thursday, June 3, 2004
2004 NCAA Bracket
Jacksonville State, winners of the Ohio Valley Conference, will face No. 4 national seed Georgia Tech in the NCAA Atlanta Regional on Friday at 6 p.m. at Russ Chandler Stadium on the Tech campus.
The Gamecocks, which have won 17 of the last 25 games, is making their first NCAA Regional appearance in the field of 64 teams.
Friday’s other first-round matchup is No. 2 seed Texas Tech (38-19) of the Big 12 against Southeastern Conference foe Mississippi State (35-22), the No. 3 seed.
The regional continues Saturday with games slated for 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday’s championship game is scheduled for 12 noon, with a second game to follow, if necessary, 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
The winner of the Atlanta Regional will be matched up with the champion of the Athens Regional, hosted by Georgia and also featuring Clemson, Birmingham Southern and Middle Tenneessee State, in an NCAA Super Regional, scheduled for June 11-13 at a campus site to be determined.
Jacksonville State, which won the 1990 and 1991 NCAA Division II National Championship, made 13 appearances in the Division II Regionals.
“What we’ve tried to do is take steps forward each year and I think we’ve been able to do that,” said third-year head coach Jim Case. “Making the regional is a step we wanted to take, but at the same time, we also want to compete for a regional championship.
“That is our mind set going over there. That we’re not going over just for the experience, but we’re going over to win a regional championship,” Case added.
Along with Georgia Tech, 2004 NCAA Regionals will also be hosted by Arkansas, East Carolina (Kinston, N.C.), Cal-State Fullerton, Florida State, Georgia, Louisiana State, Miami, Notre Dame, Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Mississippi, Rice, South Carolina, Stanford, Texas and Virginia.
“We’re very excited about going to Atlanta. Not only is it going to be a great experience for our players, but also our fans,” said Case. “We certainly look forward to the support from our fans.
