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Bracket Released for Women's Basketball Tournament; Milligan Earns Top Seed

McKenna Myers of Milligan
February 22, 2026

WALESKA, Ga. - The field for the 2026 Appalachian Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament is set, and Milligan is the No. 1 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.

Milligan is the regular-season champion with a 19-1 conference record and the No. 1 seed. As such, Milligan receives an automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship Tournament.

The tournament champion will receive an automatic berth to the national tournament. If Milligan 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. Milligan (20-7, 19-1 AAC)
  2. Bryan (21-6, 18-2 AAC)*
  3. Reinhardt (21-6, 18-2)*
  4. Pikeville (15-13, 14-6)
  5. Tennessee Wesleyan (11-14, 10-10 AAC)**
  6. Johnson (11-15, 10-10 AAC)**
  7. Spartanburg Methodist (15-13, 9-11)***
  8. Columbia (13-15, 9-11)***
  9. Montreat (10-16, 8-12 AAC)
  10. Union Commonwealth (8-19, 7-13)****

*-Bryan earned the No. 2 seed over Reinhardt since it had more conference road wins. Bryan has 9 conference road wins, while Reinhardt has 8.
**-Tennessee Wesleyan and Johnson split their season series, but Tennessee Wesleyan went 1-0 against Pikeville with Johnson going 0-2 versus Pikeville to earn the No. 5 seed.
***-Spartanburg Methodist and Columbia split their season series, but SMC went 1-1 against Tennessee Wesleyan with Columbia goind 0-1 versus Tennessee Wesleyan to earn the No. 7 seed.
****-Union Commonwealth and Brenau both finished 7-13 in conference play, but Union Commonwealth won the season series (1-0) to earn the No. 10 seed.

Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, Feb. 25
 Game 1 - No. 8 Columbia (13-15) vs. No. 9 Montreat (10-16), 2:30 pm
Game 2 - No. 7 Spartanburg Methodist (15-13) vs. No. 10 Union Commonwealth (8-19), 4:15 pm

Thursday, Feb. 26
 Game 3 - No. 1 Milligan (20-7) vs. Game 1 Winner, 12 pm
Game 4 - No. 4 Pikeville (15-13) vs. No. 5 Tennessee Wesleyan (11-14), 1:45 pm
Game 5 - No. 2 Bryan (21-6) vs. Game 2 Winner, 7:30 pm 
Game 6 - No. 3 Reinhardt (21-6) vs. No. 6 Johnson (11-15), 9:15 pm

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

Saturday, Feb. 28
Game 9 - Championship Game - Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner, 3 pm