Pikeville, Johnson Receive National Tournament Assignments
(Story provided by NAIA Athletic Communications)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - [Bracket | First and Second Round Schedule | Watch Live] The 2026 NAIA Men's Basketball National Tournament Field has been announced. Sixty-four teams will open play in the NAIA Men's Basketball First Round presented by Ballogy on March 13 at 16 host sites around the country. The first 32 winners will then play on March 14 in the Second Round, with a trip to the historic Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City, Mo., at stake, where the Round of 16 will tip off on March 19.
The 16 First and Second Round host sites were announced earlier this week on NAIA.org. Among those host sites, 10 received an auto bid through their conference; the remaining six earned an at-large bid into the tournament.
The field contains 35 automatic qualifiers that were determined by each conference; the remaining 29 spots in the field were decided by the Men's Basketball National Selection Committee, comprised of NAIA men's basketball head coaches and administrators from around the nation representing each of the five different areas, West, Midwest, South, East, and North.
The 64-team field features several teams that have gone the distance in the past and been crowned national champions, led by Oklahoma City, which has won six Red Banners across its 26 championship appearances. 16 other teams have claimed at least one national championship in their program's history; of those, six have claimed three titles, while two have claimed two.
Three programs are making their first national tournament appearance: Simpson (Calif.), Arkansas Baptist, and first-year program Georgia Gwinnett. McPherson (Kan.) and SUNO (La.) are returning to the field for the first time in 12 and 13 years, respectively. Georgetown (Ky.) leads the field, having played in 45 national tournaments over the 88 years the NAIA men's basketball national championship has been played. Cumberlands (Ky.) is second with 33 national tournaments played, followed by the College of Idaho and Northwestern (Iowa) at 28 each.
The Southern States, Sooner, Mid-South, KCAC, Crossroads, and Cascade all have five teams in this year's field, while the Frontier, Great Plains, Great Southwest, and Red River each have four representatives in the field of 64.
The Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) has two teams in the field - Pikeville and Johnson.
Pikeville is a No. 5 seed in the Cramer Bracket and opens up against No. 12 seed Faulkner (Ala.) at the Columbia (Mo.) Opening Round site. Johnson is a No. 16 seed in the Duer Bracket and faces No. 1 seed Grace (Ind.) in the Winona Lake (Ind.) Opening Round site.
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) has the best overall record heading into national tournament action at 29-1. The Lions are riding a 26-game winning streak and went undefeated for the first time in conference action in FHU's history. The field is just as tough as last season, with a total of 1,918 games played by all 64 teams. The combined record for the field is 1,433 wins to 485 losses, or a 74.7 winning percentage.
| INSTITUTION | QUALIFICATION | LAST QUALIFIED |
APPEARANCES (TITLES) |
CONFERENCE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Arizona Christian | At Large | 2025 | 12 | 
|
|
Arkansas Baptist | Tournament Champions | N/A | 1 | 
|
|
Ave Maria (Fla.) | Tournament Champion | 2025 | 4 | 
|
|
Bellevue (Neb.) | Regular Season Runner-up | 2024 | 23 | 
|
|
Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.) | At Large | 2022 | 3 |
|
|
Bethel (Ind.) | At Large | 2025 | 21(3) | 
|
|
Bethel (Kan.) | At Large | 2025 | 6 | 
|
|
Bethel (Tenn.) | At Large | 2019 | 4 | 
|
|
Carroll (Mont.) | At Large | 2024 | 18 |
|
|
College of Idaho | At Large | 2025 | 28(3) | 
|
|
Columbia (Mo.) | Tournament Champion | 2024 | 25 | 
|
|
Corban (Ore.) | Tournament Champion | 2023 | 3 |
|
|
Cumberlands (Ky.) | At Large | 2025 | 33 |
|
|
Dalton State (Ga.) | Tournament Champion | 2025 | 6 | 
|
|
Eastern Oregon | At Large | 2023 | 10 |
|
|
Faulkner (Ala.) | At Large | 2025 | 16(1) |
|
|
Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | Tournament Champions | 2025 | 11(1) |
|
|
Friends (Kan.) | No. 2 Conference Tournament Seed | 2025 | 9 |
|
|
Georgetown (Ky.) | At Large | 2025 | 45(3) |
|
|
Georgia Gwinnett | Tournament Runner Up | N/A | 1 |
|
|
Governors State (Ill.) | Regular Season Champion | 2018 | 2 | 
|
|
Grace (Ind.) | Regular Season Champion | 2025 | 15(1) |
|
|
Graceland (Iowa) | Regular Season Champion | 2025 | 3(1) | 
|
|
Hope International (Calif.) | At Large | 2025 | 12 |
|
|
Huntington (Ind.) | At Large | 2025 | 13 |
|
|
Indiana Tech | Regular Season Runner-up | 2025 | 16 | 
|
|
Indiana Wesleyan | Regular Season Runner Up | 2025 | 19(3) |
|
|
IU Kokomo (Ind.) | At Large | 2023 | 5 | 
|
|
IU Southeast (Ind.) | Tournament Champions | 2025 | 16 |
|
|
Johnson (Tenn.) | Tournament Champion | 2025 | 2 | 
|
|
Keiser (Fla.) | At Large | 2025 | 15 |
|
|
Langston (Okla.) | At Large | 2025 | 10 | 
|
|
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) | Regular Season Champion | 2025 | 20 |
|
|
Life (Ga.) | At Large | 2025 | 20(3) |
|
|
Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | At Large | 2018 | 13 |
|
|
Loyola (La.) | At Large | 2024 | 11(2) |
|
|
LSU Alexandria (La.) | Regular Season Runner-up | 2025 | 11 | 
|
|
LSU Shreveport (La.) | Regular Season Champion | 2025 | 21 |
|
|
Madonna (Mich.) | Regular Season Champion | 2025 | 7 |
|
|
McPherson (Kan.) | At Large | 2013 | 6 |
|
|
Montana Tech | At Large | 2025 | 7 |
|
|
Morningside (Iowa) | Regular Season Champion | 2025 | 22 | 
|
|
Nelson (Texas) | Regular Season Champion | 2025 | 13 |
|
|
Northwestern (Iowa) | Tournament Champion | 2025 | 28(2) |
|
|
Oklahoma City | Tournament Champion | 2019 | 26(6) |
|
|
Oklahoma Wesleyan | Regular Season Champion | 2025 | 14(1) |
|
|
Oregon Tech | At Large | 2025 | 24(3) |
|
|
Pikeville (Ky.) | Regular Season Champion | 2025 | 18(1) |
|
|
Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | Regular Season Champion | 2019 | 11 |
|
|
Shawnee State (Ohio) | Regular Season Champion | 2024 | 5(1) |
|
|
Simpson (Calif.) | Tournament Champions | N/A | 1 | 
|
|
Southeastern (Fla.) | At Large | 2023 | 7 |
|
|
SUNO (La.) | Tournament Champions | 2012 | 8 | 
|
|
Southwestern (Kan.) | At Large | 2024 | 15(1) |
|
|
St. Francis (Ill.) | Tournament Champion | 2025 | 7 |
|
|
Taylor (Ind.) | At Large | 2017 | 16 |
|
|
Texas A&M -Texarkana | At Large | 2021 | 2 |
|
|
Texas Wesleyan | At Large | 2025 | 20(2) |
|
|
The Master's (Calif.) | Tournament Champions | 2025 | 15 |
|
|
Tougaloo (Miss.) | Tournament Runners Up | 2024 | 11 |
|
|
Wayland Baptist (Texas) | At Large | 2024 | 23 |
|
|
William Carey (Miss.) | Regular Season Champion | 2025 | 15 |
|
|
William Penn (Iowa) | Tournament Champions | 2023 | 14 |
|
|
Xavier (La.) | At Large | 2025 | 24 |
|