Field Set for Men's Basketball Tournament; Pikeville Earns No. 1 Seed

Pikeville men's basketball
February 22, 2026

WALESKA, Ga. - The field for the 2026 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Men's Basketball Tournament is set, and Pikeville grabbed the top seed.

The top 10 teams advanced to the tournament, and the opening round will be played on Wednesday, Feb. 25. The tournament is being played at the MeadowView Marriott Convention Center & Conference Resort in Kingsport, Tenn.

Pikeville won the regular-season championship with an 18-1 conference record, earned the No. 1 seed, and received an automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship Tournament.

The tournament champion will receive an automatic berth to the national tournament. If Pikeville also wins the tournament, the regular-season runner-up will receive the second automatic berth.

All games will be live-streamed here for free. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students each day. To purchase tickets, click here.

Here are the seeds for the tournament:

  1. Pikeville (25-3, 18-1 AAC)
  2. Columbia International (18-9, 13-6 AAC)*
  3. Johnson (15-13, 13-6)*
  4. Union Commonwealth (13-15, 11-8)
  5. Columbia (13-15, 10-9)**
  6. Montreat (15-12, 10-9)**
  7. Tennessee Wesleyan (11-12, 10-9)**
  8. Truett McConnell (12-15, 9-10 AAC)
  9. Bryan (11-16, 8-11 AAC)
  10. Reinhardt (8-19, 7-12 AAC)***

*-Columbia International earns the No. 2 seed having won the season series against Johnson 1-0.
**-Columbia, Montreat, and Tennessee Wesleyan each finished with a 10-9 record. Head-to-head records were used to break the tie. Columbia went 2-0 against Montreat and Tennessee Wesleyan to earn the No. 5 seed; Montreat went 2-1 against Columbia and Tennessee Wesleyan to earn the No. 6 seed; and Tennessee Wesleyan went 0-3 to land the No. 7 seed.
***-Reinhardt and Milligan tied with a 7-12 conference record, but Reinhardt won the season series 2-0 to claim the No. 10 seed. 

Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, Feb. 25
 Game 1 - No. 8 Truett McConnell (12-15) vs. No. 9 Bryan (11-16), 11 am
Game 2 - No. 7 Tennessee Wesleyan (11-12) vs. No. 10 Reinhardt (8-19), 12:45 pm

Thursday, Feb. 26
 Game 3 - No. 4 Union Commonwealth (13-15) vs. No. 5 Columbia (13-15), 8:30 am
Game 4 - No. 1 Pikeville (25-3) vs. Game 1 winner, 10:15 am
Game 5 - No. 2 Columbia International (18-9) vs. Game 2 winner, 3:30 pm
Game 6 - No. 3 Johnson (15-13) vs. 6 Montreat (15-12), 5:15 pm

Friday, Feb. 27
 Game 7 - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, 2 pm
Game 8 - Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 4 pm

Saturday, Feb. 28
Game 9 - Championship Game - Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner, 1 pm