Norfolk State located in Norfolk, VA.
2011-12 season record: 25-9
Mascot: Spartans
Colors: Green and Gold
Head coach: Anthony Evans, fifth year head coach, nine on the staff
# of NCAA tournament: First appearance
Conference: MEAC
NSU (25-9) won its first-ever Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship Saturday with a 73-70 win over Bethune-Cookman. The Spartans are making their first-ever NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament appearance since moving up to Division I for the 1997-98 school year. The Spartans made 15 Division II Tournament appearances, with the last coming in 1995. That squad advanced to the D-II Final Four and won 27 games. This year’s team has won 25 games, most since that 1994-95 team.
“We’re excited to be playing Missouri in our first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance,” NSU head coach Anthony Evans said. “They represent a big challenge for us, but one we will embrace. We hope to represent NSU and the MEAC well.”