FORT WORTH, TX: The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the 32 qualifiers and bracket for the 80th annual Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship. No. 10 Texas Wesleyan will take on No. 22 University of the Cumberlands (KY) at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 16.
In its 80th rendition, College Basketball's Toughest Tournament is the longest continuous running college national championship (longer than either the NCAA Tournament or the NIT). The event will be held in Kansas City, MO, at historic Municipal Auditorium for the 53rd overall time and 16th straight year. Kansas City is hosting the event for the 72nd time.
Tickets can be purchased
here. The first 30 games of the tournament will be streamed live on
NAIANetwork.com while the Championship Game will be carried live on ESPN3. Live audio of all games will also be available for free on
My Town Media.
The field is comprised of 14 automatic berths, 17 at-large berths, and a championship host berth (Mount Mercy (IA). At-large teams were determined using the final regular-season
NAIA Coaches' Top-25 poll which was also released on Wednesday. In that rating, the Rams fell one place to 10th, while Cumberlands dropped one spot to No. 22.
The 32 teams are divided into four brackets. Texas Wesleyan is the 3rd seed in the Liston Bracket while Cumberlands is a 6-seed. No. 3 Dalton State (GA) is the top-seed in the Liston Bracket which also features a familiar name in 5th seeded LSU-Shreveport.
The Rams (24-7) received an automatic bid as the Sooner Athletic Conference Regular Season Champion. They will make the program's 15th overall and second consecutive appearance. They hold an all-time tournament record of 13-13 and have won one title (2006).
Cumberlands (22-8) is making its 25th appearance in the tournament. The Patriots also qualified last season. Their 25 appearances are second on the active list only to Georgetown's (KY) 36. The Patriots, who received the 11th of 17 at large bids are 17-24 all-time in tournament play and are seeking their first title.
Thursday's contest will be the first ever meeting between the two schools on the basketball court.
The SAC is one of six conferences to send four members to the tournament. USAO will open with No. 1 LSU-Alexandria. Oklahoma City (7 seed) will face Dillard University (LA) in a 2-7 matchup, and SAGU (4-seed) will face Talledega (AL) in a 4-5 contest.
Ramblings
- Seven of the 32 teams in the field have won at least one championship, led by Oklahoma City's NAIA record six championships.
- Nineteen programs are back from the 2016 field including both Texas Wesleyan and Cumberlands.
- The field features three first-timers in Grand View (IA), Harris-Stow State (MO), and Mount Mercy (IA).
- Last season the Rams were seeded third in the Liston Bracket fell 91-88 to a six seed from Kentucky in Campbellsville University.
- Texas Wesleyan's NAIA National Tournament history dates back to the 4th NAIB Tournament in 1940, when they reached the quarterfinals. The Rams have also made appearances in 1941, 1942, 1943, 1947, 1948, 1983, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2016. They have advanced to the round of 16 eight times, the quarterfinals three times, and won one title in 2006.
