BALTIMORE, MD. (February 22, 2025) – The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the nation’s oldest Historically Black Athletic Conference, announced the brackets for its 2025 Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament.
The single-elimination tournament tipped off at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore, MD on Tuesday, February 25 – and will run thri the championship games on March 1st. Championship games will tip-off at 1:00 p.m. for the women followed by the men at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 1st. Each bracket is seeded based on Division record. If division records are tied, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head results followed by head-to-head point differential.
In the Men’s field, Virginia State solidified the top seed in the Northern Division by posting a 7-3 divisional record. Led by Head Coach Lonnie Blow Jr., the Trojans finished the regular season with a 13-3 record in CIAA action. The Trojans made it to the second day of last year’s quarterfinals before being eliminated. The No. 2 seed goes to Bluefield State. Under the guidance of head coach Devin Hoehn, the Big Blue finished regular season play with an 10-6 conference record including 6-4 in the division. With a 3-way tie for
the No. 3 seed, reigning champions Lincoln (PA) take the third spot with a +1 point differential over Virginia Union and a head-to-head tiebreaker over Bowie State. With the Trojans at the No. 3 seed, Virginia Union edges out Bowie State with two head-to-head regular season wins and take the No. 4 seed. Bowie State will sit at the No. 5 seed with Elizabeth City State at No. 6. finale.
In the Men’s Southern Division, Fayetteville State takes the top spot for the 4th straight season. Claflin comes in at No. 2 for the second straight season with an 8-2 divisional record and Johnson C. Smith grabbed the third spot after concluding the season with a .500 record. After a head-to-head point differential tiebreaker, Livingstone claims the No. 4 spot over Shaw at the No.5 spot.
Winston-Salem State rounds out the Southern Division at the No. 6 spot.
In the women’s northern division, Virginia State came out on top with a near perfect 9-1 divisional record after defeating rival Virginia Union in their final regular season game. The Panthers, however, were close behind, as they’re locked into the second seed after posting an 8-2 divisional record on the season. Bowie State rounds out the top-three of the northern division, as they finished with an
above .500 record in the division at 6-4. Lincoln (PA) and Bluefield State come in next, respectively, with the Lions taking the four seed thanks to a +8 point differential over the Big Blue, who claim the five seed, while Elizabeth City State takes the six seed in the division at 1-9.
In the southern portion of the women’s division, reigning champions Fayetteville State finished where they left off, as their 9-1 record propelled them to the top spot. Livingstone, who showed much improvement from last year’s fifth-seed finish, jumped up all the way to the two seed, boasting a 7-3 record in the division. Claflin rounds out the top three as they finished with a record above .500, coming in at 6-4 in the division. The Bears of Shaw are in possession of the four seed at 4-6, while Johnson C. Smith and Winston-Salem State’s divisional records have them as the five and six seed, respectively, with the Golden Bulls finishing ahead of the Rams thanks to a +1 point differential.
All 22 games will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN+ (https://plus.espn.com/) with the championship games also being shown on ESPNU.
