do or die

The postseason begins today for Mississippi colleges. Here’s a primer on what’s coming up: Millsaps plays Rhodes today in the opening round of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament at Millington, Tenn. The Majors, in something of a rebuilding year, finished second in their division and had a shot at first place before their final series was washed out. The Majors (24-13) famously flamed out in two days in last year’s SCAC Tournament, which they hosted at Smith-Wills Stadium. But they recovered to make a nice run in the NCAA Division III playoffs. Maybe this team will find itself in the league tournament, which it needs to win to extend its season. Millsaps has a strong ace to play in Aaron Williams (6-0 this year, 18-5 career), and there is some thunder in the lineup with Jules Roussel, Tyler Berry and Will Hawkins. … Mississippi College, nationally ranked in D-III, likely will host a best-of-3 American Southwest Conference playoff series next weekend. The ASC Tournament proper, featuring the four playoff series winners, starts May 5. … Delta State, facing a huge series against D-II No. 1 ranked Southern Arkansas this weekend, will be either a 3- or 4-seed in the Gulf South Conference Tournament that starts May 1 in Millington. DSU, which missed the D-II playoffs last year, likely needs to win the tournament to get in this year. … NAIA nationally ranked Belhaven has a chance to clinch the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular season title at Smith-Wills Stadium against William Carey this weekend (two games Friday, one Saturday). The Blazers will also host the league tournament (May 5-10) and most likely an NAIA regional the next week. … The junior college races are getting interesting. The top four in each division get in the MACJC best-of-3 series set for May 7-8, and it appears that as many as 12 of the 14 teams still have playoff hopes. Hinds, East Central and Jones County are tied for first in the South, and Itawamba and Northeast are deadlocked in the North. The four-team state tournament starts May 13 at the home of the highest remaining North seed following the best-of-3 series. The NJCAA Region 23 D-II tourney is May 20-22. … And Meridian CC, the defending Region 23 D-I champ, is very much in the hunt to repeat.