LANSING, Mich. | Alabama State begins play in its first NCAA Tournament on Friday morning against No. 3 Vanderbilt at the Royal Scot Bowl. The match begins at 9 am (ET)/8 am (CT) and will be streamed live on the Alabama State Bowl Facebook page.

Alabama State (92-47) has faced all three teams inside the region in what is arguably the toughest of the four regions in this year's tournament. The Hornets, the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) champion, and Vanderbilt (89-39), the Southland Conference champion, are joined by No. 6 Arkansas State (70-35) and No. 9 Youngstown State (75-46). The Hornets have played against all three teams this year.

Although the tournament is the first in school history for the Hornets, their opponent has received an NCAA Tournament bid the last 16 years.
 

We are headed to the Lansing Regional #SWARMAS1 pic.twitter.com/WqjXYNaQd9

— ASU Bowling (@BamaStateBowl) March 30, 2022

Alabama State and Vanderbilt have met 10 times since 2012 with the Commodores holding an 8-2 lead, including a 988-873 victory in March 2022 and a 931-874 victory in the Music City Classic in March 2021. Meanwhile, Alabama State and Arkansas State have met 13 times since 2013 with Arkansas State holding a 12-1 advantage in the series. The two have met once this season with Arkansas State winning that match in their home tournament, while the Hornets won their only meeting in the series during the 2021 season.

Alabama State and Youngstown State have met four times in school history with Youngstown State winning all four matches. The two met earlier this season (twice) with Alabama State dropping a 981-921 contest in Jonesboro (Ark.) and a 980-886 match in Nashville (Tenn.).

The two opening round matches begin at the same time, while Round 2 (which involves an elimination match) begins at 3 pm (ET)/2 pm (CT) on Friday. The third round will be played on Saturday morning, followed by the Regional Championship with the winner advancing to the Final Four in Columbus (Ohio) on April 15-16.

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