Middle Tennessee's spot among the nation's top 81 teams was solidified four minutes into the Men's Golf Selection Committee's Conference Call. Fans and friends of the team, as well as athletic department personnel listed to the call at the Kennon Sports Hall of Fame and were ecstatic when the team was called as a participant in the East Regional.

It is the second NCAA berth in program history and the first as an at-large. The Blue Raiders made their only other appearance in the NCAA Regional in 2000 when they earned the Ohio Valley Conference's automatic berth and played in the East Regional in Moosic, Pa. Ironically, first-year Middle Tennessee men's golf coach Whit Turnbow was a senior player on the 2000 squad.

Although Turnbow believed Middle Tennessee's body of work was easily strong enough to gain an at-large berth after the team failed to win the Sun Belt Conference, he admitted feeling apprehensive throughout the day.

"I woke up nervous this morning because until you hear your school's name called you really don't know unless you are an automatic qualifier," Turnbow said. "You fight and grind all year and you get rewarded by being considered one of the best teams in the country and that is a special feeling for me and for our players. I know they feel good about the season they have had and look forward to proving themselves on a much larger stage."

Middle Tennessee is ranked No. 58 nationally and the Blue Raiders are one of the nation's winningest teams with five tournament wins in 2007-08. Alabama is the only team in the nation with more wins this season with six. The Blue Raiders own a 229-58 record.

The Blue Raiders' lineup will include juniors Rick Cochran and Chas Narramore, sophomore Kent Bulle and freshman Jason Millard. Either sophomore Craig Smith or senior Nick Bailes will complete the five-player lineup. Bailes replaced Smith, who is battling a back injury, in the lineup for the Sun Belt Conference Championship and he will be in the lineup at The Maxwell in Ardmore, Okla., this weekend.

Cochran and Narramore earned All-Sun Belt honors this season and have combined to win three SBC Golfer of the Month honors in 2007-08. Middle Tennessee's balance is evidenced by the fact five different golfers have led the team in tournament scoring this season.

Players were relieved to learn their regional destination, particularly after the squad missed out on an at-large berth last season despite a No. 47 national ranking and a gut-wrenching playoff loss in the SBC Championship.

"Last year we though we were in and didn't get in so you never know what may happen," Cochran said, adding "but we did feel good about our chances. We had played well enough all season to put ourselves in a favorable position and it was great to hear our name called out to make it official."

There are three 27-team regions - the East, Central (Columbus, Ohio), and West (Bremerton, Wash.). The top 10 teams in each region advance to the NCAA Finals in West Lafayette, Ind., May 28-31.

NCAA East Regional - May 15-17
Council Fire Golf Club - Chattanooga, Tenn.
Hosted by University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Teams (seeded in the following order):
1 Georgia
2 Charlotte
3 South Carolina
4 Duke
5 Chattanooga
6 Auburn
7 East Tennessee State
8 Michigan State
9 Mississippi
10 UAB
11 Virginia Tech
12 North Carolina State
13 Mississippi State
14 Georgia State
15 North Florida
16 UC Irvine
17 Augusta State
18 SMU
19 Middle Tennessee
20 Coastal Carolina
21 Memphis
22 Virginia
23 Western Carolina
24 Colorado State
25 New Mexico State
26 Western Illinois
27 Jackson State

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