KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (
Bracket PDF)The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released the 32-team bracket for the 73
rd
Annual Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National
Championship, held March 17-23 in Kansas City, Mo. No. 1-seed Mountain
State (W.Va.) tops the list in its 12
th straight
Championship. The 26-2 Cougars have now earned the top seed in four of
the last seven Championships, winning one title in 2004.
Coined
College Basketball's Toughest Tournament, Municipal Auditorium will be
the site for the seven-day event. The Championship is a
single-elimination tournament featuring 17 automatic qualifiers from 11
Division I affiliated conferences and the Association of Independent
Institutions (A.I.I.), 1 host berth, and 14 at-large berths. Tickets can be purchased by calling 816.595.8000 or clicking here.
Mountain
State begins its Championship by facing first-year participant Bacone
(Okla.) on Wednesday at 10:45 a.m. CST. The Cougars are 19-10 in the
Championship. The event kicks-off with No. 16 Oklahoma City facing
Southern Polytechnic State (Ga.) at 9 a.m. The Stars, who are back
after an 11-year run from 1998-2008, are 47-12 overall with six
national championships.
No. 11 Georgetown (Ky.) is making its NAIA-record 19th straight Championship and 29th
overall. The Tigers are 49-27 in this event, tied for the most wins
with No. 3 Oklahoma Baptist. The Bison are 49-20 overall in their 23rd Championship.
Kansas
City-area programs Park (Mo.) and William Jewell (Mo.) enter the
Championship unseeded. Park will battle Georgetown on Wednesday at 6:15
p.m. William Jewell begins action with a Thursday game at 6:15 p.m.
against No. 2 Concordia (Calif.).
For
the second straight year, the defending national champion did not make
the Championship field. One year after winning its first national
title, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) did not qualify.
Thirty-one
games will be played out in Kansas City. The first 30 games will be
video-streamed by NeuLion, the parent company of JumpTV. Three
different subscription plans for basketball (Men's and Women's Division
I; Men's and Women's Division II) will be available for tournament
coverage. Users can purchase the All-Tournament pass, which includes
every event offered on College Sports Direct from all four basketball tournaments
for $39.95. Each of the four basketball tournaments can be purchased
separately for $24.95 and any single day can be purchased for $9.95. In
order to view the streaming, click here.
The
Championship final on March 23 will be televised live nationally on CBS
College Sports Television with tip-off at 7 p.m. CST.
For more information on the Championship, click here.
For complete conference tournament breakdown, click here.
2010 NAIA National Tournament
Team (Record)^ Qualification Appearances* Record# Titles
|
Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (24-9)
|
Golden State Athletic Tournament Champion
|
18th
|
24-17
|
0
|
|
Bacone (Okla.) (19-12)
|
Red River Tournament Champion
|
1st
|
0-0
|
0
|
|
Belhaven (Miss.) (24-9)
|
At-Large #13
|
2nd
|
1-1
|
0
|
|
Biola (Calif.) (27-5)
|
At-Large #1
|
17th
|
19-16
|
0
|
|
Campbellsville (Ky.) (26-7)
|
At-Large #3
|
8th
|
5-7
|
0
|
|
Central Methodist (Mo.) (24-8)
|
Heart of America Athletic Regular Season Champion
|
6th
|
6-5
|
0
|
|
Concordia (Calif.) (30-3)
|
Golden State Athletic Regular Season Champion
|
8th
|
16-6
|
1
|
|
Cumberlands (Ky.) (21-10)
|
At-Large #8
|
20th
|
13-19
|
0
|
|
Evangel (Mo.) (20-12)
|
Heart of America Athletic Conference Host Berth
|
1st
|
0-0
|
0
|
|
Fresno Pacific (Calif.) (24-8)
|
At-Large #11
|
3rd
|
1-2
|
0
|
|
Georgetown (Ky.) (26-6)
|
Mid-South Tournament Champion
|
29th
|
49-27
|
1
|
|
John Brown (Ark.) (24-9)
|
Sooner Athletic Tournament Champion
|
5th
|
7-3
|
1
|
|
Lee (Tenn.) (26-7)
|
At-Large #4
|
7th
|
5-6
|
0
|
|
Life (Ga.) (21-11)
|
At-Large #7
|
11th
|
22-7
|
3
|
|
Louisiana State-Shreveport (27-5)
|
Gulf Coast Regular Season and Tournament Champion
|
6th
|
2-5
|
0
|
|
McKendree (Ill.) (27-6)
|
American Midwest Tournament Champion
|
14th
|
12-13
|
0
|
|
Montana-Western (24-9)
|
At-Large #10
|
8th
|
2-7
|
0
|
|
Mountain State (W.Va.) (26-2)
|
Association of Independent Institutions Champion
|
12th
|
19-10
|
1
|
|
Oklahoma Baptist (28-3)
|
Sooner Athletic Regular Season Champion
|
23rd
|
49-20
|
1
|
|
Oklahoma Christian (22-9)
|
At-Large #14
|
10th
|
4-9
|
0
|
|
Oklahoma City (17-9)
|
At-Large #6
|
19th
|
47-12
|
6
|
|
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) (19-10)
|
At-Large #9
|
15th
|
12-14
|
0
|
|
Park (Mo.) (22-9)
|
At-Large #12
|
4th
|
4-3
|
0
|
|
Robert Morris (Ill.) (19-10)
|
At-Large #5
|
7th
|
12-6
|
0
|
|
Southern Nazarene (Okla.) (25-7)
|
At-Large #2
|
11th
|
10-8
|
1
|
|
Southern Polytechnic State (Ga.) (26-5)
|
Southern States Athletic Tournament Champion
|
13th
|
7-12
|
0
|
|
Saint Xavier (Ill.) (23-9)
|
Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Tournament Champion
|
10th
|
4-9
|
0
|
|
Texas Wesleyan (23-9)
|
Red River Athletic Regular Season Champion
|
11th
|
12-9
|
1
|
|
Tougaloo (Miss.) (22-8)
|
Gulf Coast Athletic Regular Season Runner-Up
|
3rd
|
1-3
|
0
|
|
Union (Tenn.) (26-7)
|
TranSouth Athletic Tournament Champion
|
13th
|
7-12
|
0
|
|
Westminster (Utah) (26-5)
|
Frontier Tournament Champion
|
11th
|
3-10
|
0
|
|
William Jewell (Mo.) (22-10)
|
Heart of America Athletic Tournament Champion
|
7th
|
8-6
|
0
|
^ Based on conference websites
* Includes 2010 Championship; Division I NAIA Championship appearances only
# Based on available records