North Platte —The National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX tournament bracket has been released.  The North Platte Community College Knights basketball is seeded fourth in the South Sub-Region and will host the number five seed in the south, the Trinidad State Junior College.

The game will be held at the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium on the South Campus of North Platte Community College.  Tip-off is set for 3 pm on Saturday, February 27.

The tournament changed their format last season.  Before, the North and the South Sub-regions were paired against each other.  The new format pairs the number one seed against the number eight seed, number two will host the number seven, number three will host number six and number four will host the number five seed in their own sub-regions.

After the first round of games are played, the highest seed left from the South Sub-Region will host the final three rounds of the tournament.  The teams remaining will be reseeded and the number one seed of each sub-region will play the new number four seed of the opposite sub-region.

In the South Sub-Region the first round games will be:

#1 Otero will host #8 McCook

#2 Lamar will host #7 Northeastern Junior College

#3 Laramie County will host # 6 Western Nebraska

#4 North Platte will host #5 Trinidad State

In the North Sub-Region the first round games will be:

#1 Gillette receives a bye

#2 Casper will host #7 Little Big Horn

#3 Western Wyoming will host #6 Central Wyoming

#4 Northwest will host #5 Miles

The North Platte Community College and Trinidad State will be broadcast on ESPN 1410 radio and www.northplattepost.com .