What's Up: The eighth-ranked Minnesota State men's basketball team (27-4, 19-3 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) swept through the 2011 NCAA Central Region – a tournament they hosted – en route to earning a bid to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Tournament in Springfield, Mass.

The Mavericks open the Elite Eight at 2:30 p.m. (EDT) Wednesday against Alabama-Huntsville. The Chargers, owners of a 29-4 record hosted the South Regional last weekend and earned their bid to the Elite Eight after beating Stillman, 88-81.

The Rest of the Field: The field for the Elite Eight consists of four #1 seeds, a #6 seed and three #7 seeds. The tournament opens with Bellarmine (#1 seed, Midwest Region 30-2) against Midwestern State (#6 seed, South Central Region, 25-8) at 12 p.m. The MSU and Alabama-Huntsville game closes the first session at 2:30 p.m. The evening session opens with Anderson (#7 seed, Southeast Region, 21-11) against West Liberty (#1 seed, Atlantic Region, 32-0) at 6 p.m. and the opening round concludes with BYU-Hawaii (#7 seed, West Region, 20-8) against Bloomfield (#7 seed, East Region, 24-8) at 8:30 p.m. The winners of each session play Thursday at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., and the championship game is slated for 1 p.m., Saturday. All times are local.

Follow the Action: Fans can follow the Mavericks in a variety of ways at the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Tournament. All of MSU's games will be broadcast on AM 1230 KYSM the Fan Mankato with the pregame show starting 20 minutes prior to tip. 

Fans can watch the first round action at the Mankato Buffalo Wild Wings (downtown location) or online at NCAASports.com. 

The semifinals will air on CBS College Sports Network (Charter Mankato Channel 412, DirectTV Channel 613, Dish Network channel 152, MediaComm channel 171, Comcast channel 871).

The finals will air on CBS in both standard and high definition.

Ticket Information: Tickets for each session on Wednesday are $15 for adults and $13 for students and youth. Semifinal tickets are $17 for adults and $15 for students and youth and championship tickets are $19 for adults and $17 for students and youth. A link to Ticketmaster can be found on the schedule page of the men's basketball website on www.msumavericks.com.

Getting the Call: This year's national tournament appearance marks the seventh straight for Minnesota State and the ninth in program history. The Mavericks are 11-8 in their nine appearances.

One for the Thumb: By virtue of MSU's 61-60 victory over Southwest Minnesota State last month, the Mavericks clinched their fifth league title in the past six years. As members of the North Central Conference, the Mavericks won titles in 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Seniors Marcus Hill, Taylor Morrow and Joe Drapcho along with juniors Mike Bisenius, Stephen Kirschbaum and Mitch Grundman (all of which who redshirted as freshmen in 2007-08) have all been a part of three championship teams during their time at Minnesota State.

W2W4: There are several things to watch for as the Mavericks enter Elite Eight play next week...A win Wednesday would be the 28th of the season for Minnesota State, tying the 2006-07 squad for the most in program history...A win would also mark the 1,181st in MSU history and the 219th of head coach Matt Margenthaler's career...Finally a victory would mark MSU's fourth win in five games against Gulf South Conference opponents and the first-ever against Alabama Huntsville...Wednesday's game pits the two assist leaders in the tournament...UAH's Josh Magette leads the tournament in assists (11.0) and MSU senior guard Marcus Hill is second (8.3).

Scouting The Chargers: Alabama-Huntsville enters the Elite Eight owners of a 29-4 record. UAH played to an 11-1 record in the Gulf South Conference which was good for first in the East Division of the league.

Sophomore forward Zane Campbell leads the team in scoring and rebounding averaging 14.0 points per game and 5.2 rebounds. Sophomore guard Jamie Smith is second in scoring at 13.3 points per game while junior guard Josh Magette is third at 12.8. Magette leads the team in assists, passing out 8.0 per game.

As a team, UAH is averaging 77.8 points per game while allowing 66.8. The Chargers are shooting 49.6 percent from floor while their opponents are shooting just 41.2 percent. As a squad Alabama-Huntsville is shooting 75.3 percent from the free throw line and are outrebounding opponents by a +1.5 margin (34.0-33.5).

Lennie Acuff is in his 14th season at Alabama-Huntsville and is 254-145 with the program and 371-257 in his 20 years as a head coach.

Inside the Series: Wednesday's game is the first ever meeting between the two schools.

To view the complete version of the stats, click HERE