Bellevue selected to Huntington Pod for National Tournament

NAIA Release
First & Second Round Schedule
Tournament Bracket

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced the 64-team field for the 2026 NAIA Men's Basketball National Tournament. The tournament format features 16 four-team pods played at campus sites across the nation.

NAIA First & Second Rounds, presented by Ballogy are scheduled for Friday, March 13, with the second round taking place on Saturday, March 14.

The winners of these 16 pods will advance to the Final Site at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., to compete for the national title from March 19–24.

The Bellevue University Bruins secured their spot in the field by finishing as the Frontier Conference regular-season runner-up, earning one of the conference's two automatic bids in their inaugural season with the league.

The Bruins enter the tournament as a 14 seed in the Liston Quadrant. Their first match-up will come against 3-seed and host Huntington University at Platt Arena.

Joining the Bruins and the Foresters in the Huntington Pod are 6-seed Graceland University and 11-seed Lindsey Wilson University. The winners of the two Friday matchups will meet Saturday for a trip to the Round of 16 in Kansas City.

• Bellevue University (22-7, 17-5 FC): The Bruins are making their 23rd National Tournament appearance, the Bruins finished second in the Frontier Conference regular season standings to earn one of two automatic bids after Rocky Mountain College took home both the regular season and tournament titles.
• Graceland University (25-6, 17-3 HAAC): The Yellow Jackets qualified as the regular season champions out of the Heart of America Athletic Conference. The 2018 National Champions are making their third appearance in the NAIA National Tournament.
• Huntington University (22-8, 12-6 CL): The Foresters earned an at-large bid following a strong regular season in the Crossroads League – one of the top conferences in the NAIA. They are ranked No. 22 in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll and are making their 13^th appearance in the National Tournament.
• Lindsey Wilson University (18-11, 6-6 MSC): The Blue Raiders also earned an at-large bid to the 2026 field and are making their 13^th NAIA National Tournament appearance and first since 2018.

This marks the first year Bellevue has qualified via the Frontier Conference, having transitioned from the North Star Athletic Association last year. This is the Bruins' fourth national tournament appearance under head coach Lucas Gabriel, all coming since the NAIA Division I and Division II merger prior to the 2020-21 season.

All games in the Huntington Pod will be live-streamed via the Urban Edge Network, with live stats available through Presto and StatBroadcast, the NAIA's official stats provider.