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By RICK PETERSON

TopSports.news

Apparently, Brett Ballard's Washburn Ichabods played so well in last week's MIAA Tournament that the NCAA powers that be wanted to see it all over again.

After topping Missouri Western in the semifinals and Northwest Missouri in a thrilling championship game, Washburn faces the prospect of seeing both teams again in the NCAA Central Regional at Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Washburn, which will be making its 15th NCAA postseason appearance, was announced late Sunday night as the No. 3 regional seed and will play No. 6 Missouri Western for the fourth time this season in an 8:45 p.m. regional contest Saturday night at the Wachs Arena.

Brett Ballard's Washburn Ichabods are in the NCAA tournament for the third time in his four years at WU and will compete in Aberdeen, S.D. later this week. [File photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]

Washburn will take a 19-6 record into Saturday's game while Missouri Western is 14-10.

The winner of that game will move on to face No. 2 seed Northwest Missouri (23-2) in the semifinals. The Ichabods have also faced the Bearcarts three times, including WU's dramatic 69-68 win in Saturday's MIAA championship game.

“It's interesting they put all three conference schools on the same side of the bracket,'' Ballard said in a Zoom conference Sunday night. "You know, that is what it is. It’s probably not ideal, but you’ve got to go play good teams no matter what region you’re in and no matter where you’re at in the bracket.

"We’re excited about getting in. We know it’s going to be a brutal region to try to get through, just with the players and the coaching and how good everybody is, but we're familiar obviously with our side of it and we'll do some more homework on the other side of it, but out of the gates we'll have a very tough game against Missouri Western.''

Ballard, whose Ichabods have made it to the NCAAs in three of his four seasons at WU, said his team feels good about being back in the tournament field after a brief one-year absence.

"We didn’t know if we were going to have a season this year, so to get a season in and to also get a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament, it’s something that we never take for granted, but obviously this year it's probably even sweeter.” Ballard said.

On the other side of the bracket are three members of the Northern Sun Conference, including tournament host and No. 1 seed Northern State (18-1), which will take on the winner of the game between No. 4 Wayne State (11-6) and No. 5 seed Minnesota State Moorhead (10-4).

The Ichabods are coming off their sixth MIAA Tournament championship and their first title since 2012, earning the MIAA's Automatic Qualifier for the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament.
 
The Ichabods have never faced Missouri Western in the NCAA Tournament. The Griffons won both regular-season meetings with the Ichabods, who knocked the Griffons out of the MIAA Tournament Friday night in Maryville, Mo. with a 101-72 rout.
 
The Ichabods are 14-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
 
The winner of the Central Regional will advance to the Elite Eight at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. March 24-27.