ESTERO, Fla. – One of the nation's premier mid-major programs will participate in one of the premier in-season college basketball tournaments as the Belmont University women's basketball team is one of eight teams set to play in the 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase. Held Friday-Sunday, Nov. 25-27 inside Hertz Arena in Estero, Florida, the Gulf Coast Showcase features six NCAA Tournament teams from last season.
Seven of the eight participants in this year's event made national postseason play in 2021-22 while half the tournament field won at least one game in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Joining the Bruins in southwest Florida will be Air Force, three-time national champion Baylor, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Saint Louis, South Florida and Villanova. Michigan reached last year's Elite Eight, while Belmont, Baylor and Villanova all appeared in the Round of 32. Georgia Tech and South Florida also made the NCAA Tournament field this past March.
Belmont will face Villanova in the Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals Friday, Nov. 25 at 12:30 p.m. CT/1:30 p.m. ET with the winner advancing to play either Baylor or Saint Louis in the semifinals.
The first-round pairings are as follows:
- 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET – Baylor vs. Saint Louis
- 12:30 p.m. CT/1:30 p.m. ET – Belmont vs. Villanova
- 4 p.m. CT/5 p.m. ET – Michigan vs. Air Force
- 6:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. ET – Georgia Tech vs. USF
Saturday's tipoff times will be identical to Friday's with the semifinals taking place at 4 p.m. CT/5 p.m. ET and 6:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 26. The 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase championship game will tip at 6:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 27.
The tournament bracket also includes consolation matchups with all teams guaranteed three games across Thanksgiving weekend.
Friday's quarterfinal game against the Wildcats will be the Bruins' first-ever meeting with Villanova.
Belmont reached its second consecutive NCAA Tournament Round of 32 as a No. 12 seed this past season with a thrilling, double-overtime victory over fifth-seeded Oregon (73-70). The Wildcats upset sixth-seeded BYU 61-57 in the First Round as a No. 11 seed.
Past Gulf Coast Showcase champions include UConn (2014), Stanford (2015), Baylor (2016), Notre Dame (2017), Texas (2018), Gonzaga (2019) and Iowa State (2021).
"This year's Gulf Coast Showcase field is deep with six teams from last year's March Madness field and some of the top coaches in the game," said Gulf Coast Showcase Women's Tournament Director and CBS/ESPN analyst Debbie Antonelli. "The Bears may enter as the favorite but there are some great teams, led by some outstanding coaches in this year's field, so any of these eight could go home with the hardware on Sunday night."
Ticket and Fan Travel Information
Fan travel information, including
preferred hotel rates at the official tournament resorts, and
ticket information can be found at the official event website –
www.GulfCoastShowcase.com and on social media at @GCShowcase.
The Bruins' full non-conference schedule will be released soon.
Follow Belmont women's basketball on social media -
@BelmontWBB on Twitter,
@belmontwbb on Instagram and
Belmont Women's Basketball on Facebook - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the
official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
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