Bellarmine ineligible for NCAA Tournament, despite winning Atlantic Sun

The Bellarmine Knights beat the Jacksonville Dolphins on Tuesday, 77-72, and with that victory, became the first men's basketball team in 25 years to win its conference tournament while being ineligible for postseason play.

Bellarmine has only been in the Atlantic Sun Conference for two seasons since transitioning from the Great Lakes Valley Conference of Division II. The school is ineligible to play in the NCAA Tournament for the first four years of its transition to Division I.

At the Division II level, Bellarmine was a consistent power with a national championship victory in 2011 followed by three trips to the Final Four in the following six years.

The beneficiaries of Bellarmine's win Tuesday were the Jacksonville State Gamecocks, who will instead represent the Atlantic Sun in the NCAA Tournament. JSU won the conference regular season title and was the top-seeded team in the conference tournament, but lost a semifinals matchup against Jacksonville, 54-51.