BALTIMORE, MD (February 19, 2023) – The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the nation's oldest historically Black athletic conference, announces the brackets for its 2023 Women's and Men's Basketball Tournament. The single-elimination tournament will be held in CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, MD on February 21-25. Championship games will tip-off at 1:00 p.m. for the men followed by the women at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 25. Each bracket is seeded 1 through 12 based on conference winning percentage. 

2023 CIAA Women's Tournament Bracket

The Virginia State Women's Basketball team will take on Livingstone in the opening round on Tuesday, February 21 at 4:30 p.m. The winner will take on Lincoln (Pa.) in the Quarterfinals on Wednesday, February 22 at 4:30 p.m.


Fayetteville State University, clinched the top overall seed in the tournament while Lincoln (PA) earned the No. 2 seed. Winston-Salem State University earned the No. 3 seed, followed by No. 4 seed Bowie State University. The top four seeds will each have a bye in the opening round.
 

Set to play in Tuesday's opening round of the tournament is Elizabeth City State University who received the No. 5 seed, followed by No. 6 Shaw University, No. 7 Virginia State University, and No. 8 Johnson C. Smith University. No. 9 Virginia Union University sits ahead of No. 10 Livingstone College due to the Panthers winning the season's matchup, 75-71, in overtime. Claflin University and Saint Augustine's are the No. 11 and 12 seeds, respectively.
 

2023 CIAA Men's Tournament Bracket
 

After earning an opening round bye, the Virginia State University Men's Team will face the winners of Lincoln (Pa.) and Johnson C. Smith Thursday, February 23 at 6:00 p.m.


In the men's field, Virginia Union solidified the No. 1 seed. Fayetteville State was able to earn the No. 2 seed while Virginia State earned the No. 3 seed while Claflin earned the No. 4 seed. Both the Trojans and the Panthers teams finished with the same conference record (10-6) but the Trojans held the tiebreaker by virtue of a 74-68 win over the Panthers on December 19. Each team will receive a bye in the opening round as a result of being a top-four seed.
 

Winston-Salem State will take the No. 5 seed while the No. 6 seed is Shaw, who sits above No. 7 Lincoln (PA). At No. 8 is Livingstone, followed by No. 9 Elizabeth City State, No. 10 Bowie State, No. 11 Johnson C. Smith, and No. 12 St. Augustine's.


All 22 games will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN+ (https://plus.espn.com/) with the championship games also being shown on ESPNU.