8 teams from GCU Club Basketball, GCU Intramurals part of 34-team contingent at Canyon Activity Center
By: Jim Howell/GCU Club Sports Information Director
Months of quiet planning. Now it’s here.
Beginning Friday, Feb. 28 and continuing until the men’s championship game Sunday afternoon, Grand Canyon University will spend the next 48 hours whittling down a huge field of both men’s and women’s teams to determine the champions of the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) Region VI Championship Series Basketball Tournament at the Canyon Activity Center on the GCU campus. Twenty men’s teams and 14 women’s teams – spanning the states of Oregon, Colorado, Utah, California, Arizona, and even Massachusetts – will converge on the Valley of the Sun to determine which men’s and women’s teams will head to the NIRSA National Basketball Championships in Wichita, Kansas, the first weekend in April.
While both GCU’s club sports and intramural teams have done well at this tournament – including winning three men’s and two women’s regional titles over the past five years – this year was the first time the university took the leap to host one of the 10 regional tourneys held around the country between mid-February and mid-March. Because Region VI encompasses a total of eight states (Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona), the region actually holds a pair of tournaments: GCU’s three-day tournament in the southwest, then the northern tournament, which will be held at Eastern Washington University next weekend.
Despite the definition of NIRSA’s various 10 regions, schools are still allowed to cross their regional borders to play in other tournaments if they have the budget and desire to do so. That may explain why Colorado State University’s women’s team decided to bypass next weekend’s Region V Tournament in Boulder, Colorado to head to Arizona; and why the women’s team from Boston-based Northeastern University is here instead of waiting to compete in the Region I Tournament two weeks from now in their home state of Massachusetts.
The homecourt advantage has a good chance of working for the Lopes, since they’re responsible for over nearly 25% of the 34-team field. The Grand Canyon University Men’s Club Basketball program, whose GCU Black team just completed play in the Arizona Men’s Basketball League last week, and whose top two teams – GCU White and GCU Purple, are winding down play in the National Club Basketball Association, will send all three teams to this tournament. GCU Club Women’s Basketball will follow suit, sending their top two teams to the 14-team women’s field after completing Arizona Women’s Basketball League play two weeks ago. Finally, GCU Intramurals, who won the NIRSA Women’s Intramural National title in both 2017 and 2018, will send one team to the women’s side, and their men’s program will shoot for its fourth regional title in the last six years with one team in that field.
Six of the CAC’s 10 courts will be in use throughout the tournament, which begins at 6:30 pm Friday. All eight of GCU’s teams will help commence pool play with either a 6:30 pm or 7:45 pm tipoff. Pool play continues starting at 8:15 am Saturday, and lead into the playoffs Saturday afternoon. Men’s quarterfinals begin play Sunday at 9 am, and then GCU TV will broadcast the women’s championship game at 1 pm, and the men’s title matchup at 2:30 pm. Admission is free to the entire tournament.
A full schedule is below:
2020 NIRSA Region VI Basketball Championship Series Schedule
MEN
| Time | Court | Div (Pool) | Home Team | Away Team |
| Time | Court | Div (Pool) | Home Team | Away Team |
FRIDAY
| 6:30 PM | #1 | 1 | Dixie State University | ASU Tempe |
| 6:30 PM | #3 | 2 | GCU IM | ASU Downtown |
| 6:30 PM | #5 | 3 | CSUSM Cougars | CSUN |
| 6:30 PM | #7 | 5 | SDSU Aztecs | GCU Club Purple |
| 7:45 PM | #5 | 3 | ASU Hoop Dreams | GCU Layups Only |
| 7:45 PM | #1 | 4 | GCU Club Black | USC Men’s Club |
| 7:45 PM | #3 | 6 | GCU Club White | NAU The Fellas |
SATURDAY
| 8:15 AM | #1 | 2 | GCU IM | Claremont Colleges Club |
| 8:15 AM | #3 | 3 | GCU Layups Only | CSUN |
| 8:15 AM | #5 | 5 | GCU Club Purple | Stanford Club |
| 9:30 AM | #5 | 1 | ASU Tempe | Cal Poly Pomona Club |
| 9:30 AM | #7 | 4 | GCU Club Black | UCR WHR |
| 9:30 AM | #8 | 5 | SDSU Aztecs | ASU West |
| 9:30 AM | #10 | 6 | NAU The Fellas | UA Vagrants |
| 12:00 PM | #1 | 1 | Dixie State University | Cal Poly Pomona Club |
| 12:00 PM | #3 | 2 | ASU Downtown | Claremont Colleges Club |
| 12:00 PM | #5 | 3 | CSUSM Cougars | ASU Hoop Dreams |
| 12:00 PM | #7 | 4 | USC Men’s Club | UCR WHR |
| 12:00 PM | #8 | 5 | Stanford Club | ASU West |
| 12:00 PM | #10 | 6 | GCU Club White | UA Vagrants |
| 3:00 PM | 4 cts | PLAYOFFS | ||
| 4:15 PM | 2 cts | PLAYOFFS | ||
| 5:30 PM | 6 cts | PLAYOFFS |
SUNDAY
| 9:00 AM | 4 cts | QUARTERFINALS |
| 11:30 AM | 2 cts | SEMIFINALS |
| 2:30 PM | #7 | CHAMPIONSHIP GAME |
WOMEN
| Time | Court | Div (Pool) | Home Team | Away Team |
FRIDAY
| 6:30 PM | #8 | 1 | University of Oregon Club | GCU Club White |
| 6:30 PM | #10 | 3 | GCU’s Back Ups | Colorado State |
| 7:45 PM | #7 | 1 | ASU Shoot Girls | Cal Poly SLO |
| 7:45 PM | #8 | 2 | GCU Club Purple | CSUN Women’s Club |
| 7:45 PM | #10 | 4 | UCLA | University of Arizona |
SATURDAY
| 8:15 AM | #7 | 2 | CPP Broncos | USC Women’s Club |
| 8:15 AM | #10 | 3 | Northeastern | Colorado State |
| 8:15 AM | #8 | 4 | UC Davis Aggies | University of Arizona |
| 9:30 AM | #1 | 1 | ASU Shoot Girls | University of Oregon Club |
| 9:30 AM | #3 | 1 | GCU Club White | Cal Poly SLO |
| 10:45 AM | #1 | 2 | GCU Club Purple | USC Women’s Club |
| 10:45 AM | #7 | 2 | CSUN Women’s Club | CPP Broncos |
| 10:45 AM | #5 | 3 | GCU’s Back Ups | Northeastern |
| 10:45 AM | #3 | 4 | UC Davis Aggies | UCLA |
| 3:00 PM | 2 cts | PLAYOFFS | ||
| 4:15 PM | 4 cts | PLAYOFFS | ||
| 6:45 PM | 4 cts | QUARTERFINALS |
SUNDAY
| 10:15 AM | 2 cts | SEMIFINALS |
| 1:00 PM | #7 | CHAMPIONSHIP GAME |
