SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakota State earned its fifth straight regular season title ,doing so in historic fashion, and will be the No. 1 seed at the The Summit League Men's Basketball Championship slated for March 5-8 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.

With an 86-75 victory over Kansas City Saturday, the Jackrabbits (27-4, 18-0 SL) became the first men's team in league history to go unbeaten in regular season action. SDSU will open the tournament in next Saturday's first men's quarterfinal against No. 8 seed Omaha at 6 p.m. CT.

This is the second straight season the Jacks and Mavericks (5-24, 4-14 SL) will meet in the opening game. Omaha closed its regular season with a 95-74 loss at St. Thomas. SDSU won last year' tilt at the tournament, 84-71, and the Jacks won both regular-season matchups this season by an average of 15.0 ppg.

The two through four seeds were determined on the final day of the regular season.

North Dakota State (21-9, 13-5 SL) concluded its regular season with a 79-53 victory at in-state rival North Dakota and will be the No. 2 seed in Sioux Falls thanks to that win. The 20-plus win season is the fourth for NDSU under head coach David Richman, who has led his team to postseason titles in each of the last two tournaments played at the PREMIER Center (2019 and 2020).

The Bison will take on No. 7 seed Denver (11-20, 7-11 SL) in Saturday's second quarterfinal at 8:30 p.m. CT. NDSU swept the regular season series from the Pioneers, who wrapped up their regular season with back-to-back road wins. DU's seven league wins this season under first-year head coach Jeff Wulbrun are equal to the program's combined league-win total from the previous three seasons.

Reigning tournament champion Oral Roberts (18-11, 12-6 SL) claimed the No. 3 seed despite back-to-back home losses to close out the season. The Golden Eagles held a tiebreaker with Kansas City after sweeping the regular season series with the Roos (19-11, 12-6 SL) as both finished with identical league records.

Last year, fourth-seeded ORU captured its first tournament title since 2012, winning in an event played without fans at The Sanford Pentagon. This is the highest seed for ORU since the Golden Eagles were also the No. 3 seed in the 2015 tournament.

Western Illinois (16-14, 7-11 SL) will be the No. 6 seed and ORU's opponent in Sunday's second quarterfinal at 8:30 p.m. CT. The Leathernecks fell 83-77 to the Pioneers to close out the regular season, but posted the program's first winning regular season since sharing the league title in 2013 with the Jackrabbits. This is also the highest seed for the Leathernecks since being the No. 2 seed that season. ORU and WIU each won on the opponents' home court during their regular season matchups.

Kansas City equaled a program record by winning 12 league games in 2022 and will the No. 4 seed in Sioux Falls. The team seeded on the four line has won three of the last five men's tournaments.

The Roos will face No. 5 seed South Dakota in Sunday's first quarterfinal at 6 p.m. CT. The Coyotes (18-11, 11-7 SL) registered a road win at Oral Roberts on Saturday to close out their regular season, defeating the Golden Eagles 92-87. Kansas City swept the regular season series from the Coyotes, including a 72-63 win on Thursday.

Monday's semifinals begin with the winner of the South Dakota State-Omaha matchup facing the winner of the Kansas City/Sout Dakota tilt at 6 p.m. CT and will be followed up by the winner of the North Dakota State/Denver tilt and winner of the Oral Roberts-Western Illinois game at 8:30 p.m. CT. All four quarterfinals and both semifinals will be televised on Midco Sports and streamed on Midco Sports Plus and ESPN+.

Tuesday's championship game is set for 8 p.m. CT and will be televised live on ESPN2 and available on WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app.

All men's and women's games at The Summit League Basketball Championships can be viewed live across multiple platforms ranging from cable television to handheld devices. The coverage by Midco Sports and ESPN platforms marks the 13^th consecutive season that both the men's and women's tournaments will be broadcasted in their entirety.

For complete information on this year's tournament, visit The Summit League's Men's Basketball Championship Central webpage.
 
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