SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – North Dakota State captured the program’s first regular season title since the 2019-20 season to earn the No. 1 seed for the 2026 Summit League Men’s Basketball Championship slated for March 4-8 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.

The Bison (24-7, 14-2 SL) earned the first outright title since 2013-14 and will be looking for their first tournament title shot since the 2023 event.  Picked fourth in the preseason poll, NDSU put together a four-game improvement in conference play after being the No. 4 seed a season ago en route to the top seed.

No. 8 seed Oral Roberts (9-22, 4-12 SL) will play No. 9 seed Kansas City (4-26, 1-15 SL) in Wednesday’s opening game, which will start at 7 p.m. CT. These two teams wrapped up the regular season in Kansas City with the Golden Eagles winning that tilt 94-70 for their third straight win, which is ORU’s longest winning streak of the season.

The winner of the ORU-KC rematch will play the top-seeded Bison in Thursday’s opening quarterfinal at 6 p.m. CT.

St. Thomas (23-8, 12-4 SL) will be the No. 2 seed in Sioux Falls for the second straight season. The Tommies, whose 23 wins are their most as a Division I member, will play No. 7 seed South Dakota State (14-17, 7-9 SL). This is the first season St. Thomas is eligible for the NCAA Tournament.

St. Thomas, who has won at least one game in each of its first three trips to the postseason including a trip to last season’s championship game, and the Jackrabbits will play 25 minutes after the opening quarterfinal concludes.

North Dakota (16-16, 10-6 SL) will be the No. 3 seed and play against No. 6 seed Denver (15-16, 8-8 SL) in Friday’s final quarterfinal, which will tip 25 minutes after the quarterfinal between No. 4 South Dakota (16-15, 8-8 SL) and No. 5 Omaha (15-16, 8-8 SL) that is set to tip at 6 p.m. CT.

The Fighting Hawks were five wins better in Summit play this season than a year ago when UND was on the opposite side of the No. 3-No. 6 matchup and knocked off South Dakota State in Sioux Falls.

The three-way tie between South Dakota, Omaha and Denver was decided based on the overall records between those three teams against each other. The Coyotes went 3-1 with a season sweep of Omaha and a split with Denver. The Mavericks swept Denver to go 2-2, while the Pioneers only had a home win against the Coyotes to finish 1-3 in the mini-tiebreaker pod.

Saturday’s first semifinal will feature the winner of the North Dakota State-G1 Winner and the South Dakota-Omaha winner at 7 p.m. CT. The second semifinal will pit the winner of the St. Thomas-South Dakota State contest vs. the winner of the North Dakota-Denver clash 25 minutes after the opening semifinal concludes.

Wednesday's first round game and all four quarterfinals will be televised on Midco Sports and streamed on the Summit League Network powered the Midco Sports Plus app. Saturday’s semifinals and Sunday’s championship game, which is set for an 8 p.m. CT tip will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.

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 CBS platforms marks the 17th 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.

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