He's the coach of the defending NJCAA and Region 18 champion North Idaho College women's basketball team, but Chris Carlson is aware of the trappings of being the No. 1 seed for the Region 18 tournament, which unfolds this week at Salt Lake Community College.

The top-seeded NIC women (23-5) will play the winner of today's quarterfinal between No. 4 seed Southern Idaho (15-15) and No. 5 Salt Lake (16-12) on Friday at 4:30 p.m. PST. It is the Cardinals' first conference title since the 2005-06 season.

"This is definitely going to be a different animal," Carlson said. "The No. 1 seed hasn't been favorable for a lot of different teams. It definitely helps not playing tomorrow (Thursday) and getting to watch CSI play Salt Lake. Hopefully that's the benefit - but being the No. 1 seed doesn't guarantee anything."

CSI was the last team to win the Region 18 tournament as the top seed in 2008.

Third-seeded Utah State-Eastern Utah (16-14) faces No. 6 Colorado Northwestern (10-19) in the other quarterfinal today, with the winner facing second-seeded Snow (17-12) on Friday.

NIC’s women have won three straight Region 18 titles.

In the men’s tournament, third-seeded North Idaho (23-7) plays tournament host and second seed Salt Lake (22-8) in the first semifinal on Friday at 1 p.m. PST at Bruin Arena.

“From our standpoint, we could have played either Snow or Salt Lake,” NIC coach Jared Phay said. “There’s really no easy way for us to advance to nationals in this conference, so you’ve really got to play whoever is there.”

• Men: NIC swept Colorado Northwestern and Utah State-Eastern Utah last weekend to clinch the third seed, while Salt Lake beat Snow in Ephraim to clinch the second seed. NIC went 2-1 against Salt Lake this season. NIC has won five of its last seven games.

“We’re starting to play together and really sharing the ball well,” Phay said. “We’re really gelling as a group right now.”

NIC was helped by freshman Kaj Sherman’s 17 points and 17 rebounds in an overtime win at Utah State-Eastern last Saturday.

“Kaj has made a lot of improvement over the year,” Phay said. “Our guards are doing a lot better job of getting him the ball.”

Top-seeded Southern Idaho (27-3) will play the winner of the Thursday’s quarterfinal game between No. 4 Snow (22-8) and No. 5 Colorado Northwestern (6-22) on Friday.

“I’d give them a slight nod,” Phay said of CSI. “They’ve got the most talent and pieces to the puzzle — just not by much.”

CSI won the Region 18 tournament last year in Twin Falls and went on to win the NJCAA championship, but has played three close games against the Cardinals this season, going 2-1 and winning by a combined seven points. NIC beat CSI by four points on Jan. 14 in Coeur d’Alene.

“With the top four in our league, including us, it wouldn’t shock me if you said any of the top four could win this,” Phay said. “It’s going to be a real exciting tournament.”

The winner of the men’s tournament hosts Arizona Western (26-6) on Tuesday night in a play-in game to the NJCAA tournament in Hutchinson, Kan., March 20-24.

• Women: After losing back-to-back games at Snow and Southern Idaho, the Cardinals won six straight, with a 69-63 victory over Southern Idaho in the home finale, giving the team its third conference title in school history.

NIC had the streak snapped at Utah State-Eastern last Saturday.

“We had that five-game home stretch where we could regroup and rise up to win the league,” Carlson said. “That was a real momentum builder. Last week’s loss really had no affect on our league standing, but maybe it was a positive experience and they remember what it feels like and build from it.”

NIC won all three games vs. Salt Lake, and went 2-1 against CSI, winning by a combined seven points in Coeur d’Alene in two games (Jan. 14 and Feb. 25) and losing by 21 in Twin Falls on Feb. 4.

“We really don’t want to size up the situations,” Carlson said. “We just want to go out and play our game and do what we’ve been doing all year.”

This weekend’s winner advances automatically to the NJCAA tournament March 20-24 in Salina, Kan.

“There are about four teams that could win this tournament no doubt,” Carlson said. “Snow has been playing some good, steady basketball all year. CSI has had some huge runs and Eastern has had some nice runs. Salt is on their home court and just about everyone can beat anyone. Everyone has weapons. Whoever can get it going can win this thing.”

Note: Live stats and streaming video for the entire tournament can be found at wwww.slccbruins.com.

REGION 18 BASKETBALL TOURNAMENTS

At Salt Lake Community College

Thursday

Game 3 — Snow (22-8) vs. Colorado Northwestern (6-22), 6:30 p.m.

Friday

Game 5 — Salt Lake (22-8) vs. North Idaho (23-7), 1 p.m.

Game 7 — Southern Idaho (27-3) vs. Winner Game 3, 6:30.

Saturday

Game 9 — Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 5, 6:30 p.m. (Winner to host NJCAA tournament play-in game Tuesday).

Thursday

Game 1 — Utah State-Eastern Utah (16-14) vs. Colorado Northwestern (10-19), 1 p.m.

Game 2 — Southern Idaho (15-15) vs. Salt Lake (16-12), 4:30.

Friday

Game 4 — Winner Game 1 vs. Snow (17-12), 11 a.m.

Game 6 — Winner Game 2 vs. North Idaho (23-5), 4:30 p.m.

Saturday

Game 8 — Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 4, 4 p.m. (Winner advances to NJCAA tournament)