That’s because the Wildcats will travel all the way to Springfield, Illinois, in the central part of that state just to play Michigan Tech for the fourth time this season.

That will occur at 3:30 p.m. EST Saturday in the first round of the Midwest Regional in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

The University of Illinois-Springfield is holding this regional that is actually hosted by No. 1 Midwest seed Missouri S&T (Science and Technology) of Rolla, Missouri.

In the parallel women’s tournament that kicks off a day earlier on Friday, NMU travels downstate to Allendale and will face former GLIAC member Hillsdale in its opener at noon that day.

Northern Michigan University’s Julien Smith, right, works to get by Lake Superior State’s Tyson Edmondson during the GLIAC Tournament men’s basketball championship game played at Michigan Tech’s arena in Houghton on Sunday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

These Northern teams reverted more closely to their seedings for last week’s GLIAC Tournament that they did based on their success in the league postseason event.

The NMU men, who entered the conference tourney as the No. 4 seed, drew a No. 6 NCAA regional seed despite running through the field and winning the tournament championship over Lake Superior State on Sunday.

The Wildcat women, who came into their league event at No. 2, drew a No. 3 NCAA regional seed even after getting knocked out in the semifinals by Ferris State.

Both Northern teams drew into the opposite side of the bracket from their regional host, meaning they won’t have to play a true road game — rather than these opening-round neutral-site ones — until the regional final in the third round.

Fans can stay up to date with all things about their teams online at NMUWildcats.com, or learn more about the men’s national tournament at ncaa.com/sports/basketball-men/d2 and the women’s at ncaa.com/sports/basketball-women/d2.

Here is information on each tournament:

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NMU women No. 3

For the 22-8 NMU women, Hillsdale (21-9) is the NCAA regional No. 6 seed and nowadays hails from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

The Chargers finished in second place in the GMAC to NCAA regional No. 2 seed Ashland in the regular season with a 16-4 conference record. Hillsdale also was runner-up to Ashland in their conference tourney, losing 69-57 on Saturday in the championship game.

If the Wildcats advance past Hillsdale, they play again at 5 p.m. Saturday against the winner of No. 2 Ashland (30-3) and No. 7 Ferris State (21-11). With Ashland the regular season and tourney champ of the GMAC, Ferris of course is the team that knocked Northern out of the GLIAC tourney, even though NMU posted wins of 30 and 27 points against FSU during the regular season.

With a second win, the Wildcats would reach the regional championship game at 7 p.m. Monday against No. 1 Grand Valley State (32-2), No. 8 Quincy (25-7), No. 4 Wayne State (19-11) or No. 5 Lewis (26-3).

GVSU and Wayne State are members of the GLIAC, while Lewis and Quincy are from the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Lewis won its regular-season title at 19-1 while Quincy was third at 16-4, but Quincy then won its conference tourney with a 64-60 win over Maryville while Lewis only managed to reach the semifinals.

In the GLIAC, Grand Valley won regular-season and tourney titles, with Wayne State tying for third in the regular season at 13-7 but getting the No. 4 seed conference tourney seed and advancing to the semis before losing to GVSU.

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NMU men No. 6

Northern’s matchup against its biggest Upper Peninsula rival gives the Wildcats an unexpected chance to even the season series after the Huskies won both regular-season encounters, 88-65 in Marquette on Jan. 9 and 67-64 in Houghton on Feb. 20.

But the Wildcats’ win over Tech, 69-68 in the GLIAC Tournament semifinals in Houghton on Saturday, is what likely propelled NMU into the NCAA nationals.

Even with its league tourney title, Northern is the lowest NCAA seed, No. 6, among four GLIAC

Tech (23-7) grabbed a No. 3 NCAA regional seed to set up this meeting. The winner of that game has an excellent chance of facing yet another U.P. team in the second round at 6 p.m. EST Sunday as it will be the winner of No. 2 regional seed Lake Superior State (27-6) and No. 7 Lincoln (23-8) out of the GLVC. The Blue Tigers from Missouri might not have even been in the NCAAs if they hadn’t won their league tourney as they tied for fourth place in the regular season.

On the other side of the bracket awaiting in the regional final at 8 p.m. EST Tuesday could be regional No. 1 Missouri S&T (24-5), No. 8 Malone (16-15), No. 4 Missouri-St. Louis (19-11) or No. 5 Ferris State (25-8).

Missouri S&T won the GLVC regular season at 17-3, while Missouri-St. Louis was runner-up at 15-5. In their tourney, Lincoln downed Missouri-St. Louis in the title game 58-51, with Missouri S&T losing to Lincoln in the semis, 87-64.

Malone comes from the GMAC, where the Pioneers, like Lincoln, earned their NCAA spot by winning the conference tourney, defeating Thomas More 76-63 in the final. Malone only finished 9-11 and in seventh place in the 12-team conference in the regular season.

Ferris finished just in front of NMU in the GLIAC regular season at 14-6, seeded No. 3 in the league tournament, and lost in the semifinals to LSSU 93-76.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press releases previewing the games. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.