{"id":42880,"date":"2019-05-15T13:18:59","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T17:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=42880"},"modified":"2019-05-15T13:19:09","modified_gmt":"2019-05-15T17:19:09","slug":"two-conference-champs-lead-2019-gulf-coast-showcase-mens-field-while-former-champ-middle-tennessee-leads-five-womens-teams-back-to-sw-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2019\/05\/two-conference-champs-lead-2019-gulf-coast-showcase-mens-field-while-former-champ-middle-tennessee-leads-five-womens-teams-back-to-sw-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"TWO CONFERENCE CHAMPS LEAD 2019 GULF COAST SHOWCASE MEN\u2019S FIELD, WHILE FORMER CHAMP MIDDLE TENNESSEE LEADS FIVE WOMEN\u2019S TEAMS BACK TO SW FLORIDA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gulfcoast-Showacase-logo.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-42881\" width=\"384\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gulfcoast-Showacase-logo.png 512w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gulfcoast-Showacase-logo-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gulfcoast-Showacase-logo-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Gulfcoast-Showacase-logo-50x50.png 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>At least five teams that won a share of a conference title last season will be part of the Gulf Coast Showcase this Thanksgiving at Hertz Arena while the inaugural winner of the women\u2019s event, Middle Tennessee, returns to defend its 2013 crown, organizers announced Tuesday. The regular-season champions from the Missouri Valley Conference and Horizon League, Drake and Wright State respectively, headline the men\u2019s field. The women\u2019s field also will feature a Drake squad that won the Missouri Valley Conference as well as Gonzaga (West Coast Conference champs) and Maine (America East champs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSince we launched this event in 2013, we have attracted quality programs on the men\u2019s side that can compete with anybody in the country,\u201d said Brooks Downing, whose company bdG Sports manages the annual event. \u201cThree years ago, Houston won the men\u2019s tournament and it really kickstarted the run to being a Top-25 program. Last season, UC Irvine played in our championship game and ended up winning 31 games after beating Kansas State in the NCAA Tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The men\u2019s tournament will be played on Nov. 25-27 with four games each day. The announced teams include (2019 results and conference finish):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Drake \u2013 24-10 overall, 12-6 conference (T-1<sup>st<\/sup>&nbsp;in Missouri Valley Conference)<\/li><li>Wright State \u2013 21-14, 13-5 (T-1<sup>st<\/sup>&nbsp;in Horizon League)<\/li><li>Northeastern \u2013 23-11, 14-4 (2<sup>nd<\/sup>&nbsp;in Colonial Athletic Association)<\/li><li>Weber State \u2013 18-15, 11-9 (T-4<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;in Big Sky Conference)<\/li><li>Miami (OH) \u2013 15-17 overall<\/li><li>South Alabama \u2013 17-17 overall<\/li><li>Two teams to be announced<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The women\u2019s tournament, played on Nov. 29-Dec. 1 with four games each day as well, features six teams that won 20+ games and five teams that competed in the NCAA Tournament. Arizona State advanced to the Sweet 16 while Gonzaga narrowly fell to Oregon State in the Round of 32. ASU, Dayton, Maine, Middle Tennessee and Purdue have all played in the Gulf Coast Showcase since its inception in 2013. The full field of the women\u2019s tournament features:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Arizona State \u2013 22-11, 10-7 (5<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;in Pac-12 Conference) \/ NCAA Tournament<\/li><li>Auburn \u2013 22-10, 9-7 (T-6<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;in Southeastern Conference) \/ NCAA Tournament&nbsp;<\/li><li>Drake \u2013 27-7, 17-1 (1<sup>st<\/sup>&nbsp;in Missouri Valley Conference) \/ NCAA Tournament<\/li><li>Gonzaga \u2013 29-5, 16-2 (1<sup>st<\/sup>&nbsp;in West Coast Conference) \/ NCAA Tournament<\/li><li>Maine \u2013 25-8, 15-1 (1<sup>st<\/sup>&nbsp;in America East Conference) \/ NCAA Tournament<\/li><li>Middle Tennessee \u2013 23-11, 11-5 (T-3<sup>rd<\/sup>&nbsp;in Conference USA)<\/li><li>Dayton \u2013 17-14, 10-6 (T-4<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;in Atlantic 10 Conference)<\/li><li>Purdue \u2013 19-15 overall<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe fact that five teams in the women\u2019s field has played here before tells you what college basketball thinks of the Gulf Coast Showcase,\u201d said Women\u2019s Tournament Director and ESPN analyst Debbie Antonelli. \u201cWe set out to create the best women\u2019s tournament in the country, and once again, this eight-team field highlights the best the sport has to offer. And, this year\u2019s field is as wide-open as any since the tournament\u2019s inception.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the fifth consecutive year, the tournament will support the Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital of Southwest Florida. The hospital is the only children\u2019s hospital between Tampa and Miami and provides vital health care for the region\u2019s sick and injured children and their families. The hospital\u2019s&nbsp; new $242 million facility provides 300,000 square feet of space, 128 pediatric and NICU beds with space to expand to 160 beds, a 17-bay emergency department, a freestanding pediatric pharmacy and in-hospital school classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ticket and Fan Travel Information<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tickets for the 2019 Gulf Coast Showcase will go on-sale this summer. Fan travel information, including preferred hotel rates at the official tournament resort hotel \u2013 the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point \u2013 is available on&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gulfcoastshowcase.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">www.GulfCoastShowcase.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At least five teams that won a share of a conference title last season will be part of the Gulf Coast Showcase this Thanksgiving at Hertz Arena while the inaugural&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":42881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42880"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}