Six of Seven Southwest Division Teams to Battle for Postseason Title at Air Force

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Six of the seven Southwest Division teams will meet at the United States Air Force Academy this weekend to decide one of two bids the division will receive for the 2009 National Collegiate Club Championship. Utah, which captured the regular season title, is unable to attend the tournament due to severe weather in the area.

Utah, which finished 8-0 during the regular season to clinch the No. 1 seed for the division tournament, is unable to make it to Colorado Springs this weekend as Colorado and Utah are being socked with heavy snow through Saturday afternoon. 

Due to the loss of Utah, the championship will be contested without the Utes, who will still receive some reward for their regular season record.

Although the team will not be present at the division championship tournament, and will thus be unable to compete for the title, the Utes will be awarded one of two bids to the National Collegiate Club Championship for finishing with an unblemished record. 

At this time, a decision has not been made in regards to weather Utah will receive the No. 4 seed normally awarded to the Southwest Division Champion, or the No. 13 seed which the division picked up after the Unviersity of Washington, the Northwest Division runner-up, elected not to compete in this year's National Collegiate Club tournament.

It is important to note that Utah will not be named Southwest Division Champion, as the victor of this weekend's division championship tournament will receive the title and the championship plaque awarded to the division titleist.

Due to the loss of Utah, each of the six remaining teams in the division move up a seed.  In addition, the championship format, which was set up for a seven-team championship, changes to accomodate six teams this weekend.

The University of Arizona, which finished second to Utah during the regular season with a 7-1 record as the Utes knocked off the Wildcats 10-9 on February 14, receives the No. 1 seed for this weekend's championship. 

Univeristy of Colorado (6-2), Air Force (3-5), Colorado State University (2-6), Northern Arizona University (1-7) and University of New Mexico (1-7) follow with positions No. 2 through six to round out the field.

The teams will play off in the first round on Saturday with Arizona, Colorado State and Northern Arizona comprising an "A" bracket, while Colorado, Air Force and New Mexico make up the "B" bracket, with the 1-4-5 and 2-3-6 seeds grouped together.

The complete division schedule, including the updated championship field and schedule, is available on the Southwest Division page.