KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (official bracket) The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released the game times and pairings for the 71st Annual Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship. Coined college basketball’s toughest tournament, Municipal Auditorium hosts the March 19-25 event in downtown Kansas City, Mo.
No. 4 LSUS (30-2) will face the University of Science and Arts (Okla.) (17-15) in the first round on Wednesday afternoon at 12:30 PM. The Pilots are making their fourth consecutive appearance in the NAIA National Tournament, while the Drovers are making thier fourth-ever appearance.
No. 1 seed Georgetown (Ky.) tops the field with a perfect 32-0 record. The Tigers are the only undefeated program this year in Division I and are no strangers to the Championships. GC makes its 27th appearance and 17th straight, the most overall trips among this year’s field. Georgetown faces Emmanuel (Ga.), who makes its first trip ever to Kansas City, on Wednesday, March 19 at 4:30 p.m. CST.
Defending national champion Oklahoma City is the No. 7 seed. Coming from the Sooner Athletic Conference, the Stars own a Championship record of 42-12 (.778) in 17 previous appearances. OCU boasts the most Championships (5) of any program in this year’s field and takes on Cumberland (Tenn.) on Thursday, March 20 at 8 p.m.
Action gets underway from historic Municipal Auditorium with No. 12 Martin Methodist (Tenn.) taking on Wayland Baptist (Texas) at 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
The first 28 games of the Championships will be video-streamed live on the Internet, while the Semifinal round (March 24) and National Championship Game (March 25) will air live nationwide on CBS College Sports Network (CSTV), with Jason Knapp calling the action and Steve Wolf providing color analysis.
In all, there are 31 games spanning seven days. The first three days pack in eight games each day starting at 9 a.m. Single session and all-tournament tickets are on sale through the Municipal Auditorium Box Office or Ticketmaster at http://www.ticketmaster.com/, by calling 816-931-3330 or in person at any Ticketmaster Outlet throughout the Kansas City metropolitan area.
The Championships are a single-elimination tournament featuring 15 automatic qualifiers from eleven Division I affiliated conferences, one independent and 16 at-large berths, which are determined using the final regular-season rating released March 5.
For more information on the Championships, click here.
For complete conference tournament breakdown, click here.
2008 NAIA National Tournament
Team (Overall Record^) Qualification Appearances* Record# Titles
|
Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.) (19-8) |
At-Large 4 |
10th |
9-9 |
0 |
|
Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (22-10) |
At-Large 3 |
15th |
23-14 |
0 |
|
California Baptist (23-8) |
Golden State Athletic Tournament Runners-Up |
4th |
2-3 |
0 |
|
Campbellsville (Ky.) (24-9) |
At-Large 15 |
6th |
2-5 |
0 |
|
Carroll (Mont.) (23-8) |
At-Large 11 |
8th |
6-7 |
0 |
|
Columbia (Mo.) (25-8) |
At-Large 5 |
13th |
3-12 |
0 |
|
Concordia (Calif.) (28-4) |
Golden State Athletic Regular Season & Tournament Champion |
6th |
15-4 |
1 |
|
Cumberland (Tenn.) (21-11) |
At-Large 14 |
2nd |
1-1 |
0 |
|
Cumberlands (Ky.) (19-13) |
At-Large 9 |
18th |
11-17 |
0 |
|
Emmanuel (Ga.) (16-17) |
Southern States Athletic Tournament Runners-Up |
1st |
0-0 |
0 |
|
Georgetown (Ky.) (32-0) |
Mid-South Tournament Champion |
27th |
46-25 |
1 |
|
Lambuth (Tenn.) (28-3) |
TranSouth Athletic Regular Season & Tournament Champion |
4th |
1-3 |
0 |
|
Langston (Okla.) (15-12) |
Red River Athletic Tournament Champion |
3rd |
0-2 |
0 |
|
Lee (Tenn.) (31-1) |
Southern States Athletic Regular Season Champion |
5th |
3-4 |
0 |
|
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (22-9) |
Frontier Tournament Champion |
7th |
2-6 |
0 |
|
Louisiana State-Shreveport (30-2) |
Gulf Coast Athletic Regular Season & Tournament Champion |
4th |
1-3 |
0 |
|
Martin Methodist (Tenn.) (25-7) |
At-Large 2 |
5th |
2-4 |
0 |
|
McKendree (Ill.) (26-6) |
American Midwest Tournament Champion |
12th |
9-11 |
0 |
|
Mobile (Ala.) (22-9) |
At-Large 6 |
9th |
7-8 |
0 |
|
Mountain State (W.V.) (30-2) |
Independent Tournament Champion |
7th |
13-5 |
1 |
|
Oklahoma Baptist (22-9) |
At-Large 7 |
20th |
43-18 |
1 |
|
Oklahoma City (26-7) |
Sooner Athletic Regular Season & Tournament Champion |
18th |
42-12 |
5 |
|
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) (17-14) |
At-Large 12 |
14th |
10-13 |
0 |
|
Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) (23-9) |
At-Large 13 |
8th |
4-7 |
0 |
|
Robert Morris (Ill.) (26-3) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Tournament Champion |
5th |
10-4 |
0 |
|
Science & Arts (Okla.) (17-15) |
Sooner Athletic Tournament Runners-Up |
4th |
10-2 |
1 |
|
St. Xavier (Ill.) (24-8) |
At-Large 16 |
9th |
4-8 |
0 |
|
Southern Nazarene (Okla.) (23-8) |
At-Large 1 |
9th |
10-7 |
1 |
|
Texas Wesleyan (19-10) |
At-Large 8 |
9th |
11-7 |
1 |
|
Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) (24-8) |
TranSouth Athletic Tournament Runners-Up |
5th |
4-4 |
0 |
|
Wayland Baptist (Texas) (19-12) |
At-Large 10 |
14th |
7-13 |
0 |
|
Xavier (La.) (24-9) |
Gulf Coast Athletic Tournament Runners-Up |
11th |
4-10 |
0 |
^ Based on conference websites
* Includes 2008 Championship
# Based on available records
