NAIA Men's Basketball Opening Round featuring #22 IU Kokomo, (RV) WVU Tech
NAIA Men's Basketball Opening Round featuring #22 IU Kokomo, (RV) WVU Tech
The NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship Opening Round gets underway on Friday, March 11 with two teams representing the River States Conference. No. 22-ranked Indiana University Kokomo and (RV) WVU Tech are in the 64-team bracket, which tips off at 16 locations around the country.
The 16 opening-round sites have four teams each. The 16 winners of the sites will meet in Kansas City, Mo., March 17-22 for the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship Final Site. The winners of games on Friday, March 11 will play on Saturday, March 12 for the right to move on to Kansas City.
No. 22 IU Kokomo, with a 29-3 overall record, is the No. 8 seed in Oskaloosa, Iowa, bracket hosted by William Penn (Iowa). The RSC regular season and postseason champion Cougars take on No. 9 seed Dordt (Iowa) on Friday, March 11 at 4 p.m. ET. The winner will face the winner of No. 1 William Penn versus No. 16 Bellevue (Neb.) on Saturday, March 12.
(RV) WVU Tech is 25-5 on the year, the Golden Bears drew the No. 10 seed in the Talledega, Ala., bracket hosted by Talladega (Ala.). WVU Tech, the RSC postseason runner up, plays No. 7 seed Cumberland (Tenn.) on Friday, March 11 at 6:00 p.m. ET. The winner will play whoever advances between No. 2 Talladega (Ala.) and No. 15 Washington Adventist on Saturday, March 12.
IU Kokomo has spent much of the year in the NAIA Top 25. The Cougars ran to the RSC regular-season title and RSC West Division championship with a 17-1 conference record, and they take a 17-game win streak into the national tournament. IU Kokomo claimed the RSC's first automatic berth to nationals.
WVU Tech posted a 25-win season with a 14-2 conference record. That was good for the RSC East Division championship and a run to the RSC Championship finals at IU Kokomo. Despite the loss there, the Golden Bears earned the RSC's second RSC auto bid as the other division winner.
For more information on the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship, click here.