SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakota State picked up two key road wins in the final week of conference play to earn the outright regular season title and No. 1 seed at the Summit League Men’s Basketball Championship slated for March 8-12 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
The Jackrabbits (19-12, 12-4 SL) ended up with a two-game advantage in the final standings after securing their ninth Summit League title in the last 11 seasons. SDSU will be the top seed for the seventh time and have won three titles from that seed line (2013, 2018, 2022).
Kansas City and North Dakota, who are two of the most improved teams from last year, occupy the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds. The second-seeded Roos (16-15, 10-6 SL) arrive in Sioux Falls carrying a six-game winning streak, which is tops among the nine-team field after closing out the regular season with a 71-54 win at Oral Roberts Sunday.
Those two teams split their regular-season series and Kansas City earned the tiebreaker because the Roos had a win over the top-seeded Jackrabbits, while UND lost both contests to SDSU.
The No. 2 seed matches Kansas City’s highest previous in the tournament from the 2005 event. The Roos, who were the No. 7 seed a season ago, have never won the postseason title.
Kansas City will open against this year’s No. 7 seed, Denver, in Saturday’s second quarterfinal at 8:30 p.m. CT. The Pioneers (15-16, 6-10 SL) are led by Tommy Bruner, who is the nation’s leading scorer entering the postseason averaging 24.5 ppg. The Pioneers were the No. 8 at last year’s event.
The third-seeded Fighting Hawks (18-13; 10-6 SL) won more four games than last year’s team that was the No. 9 seed in Sioux Falls. This the highest UND has been seeded in four previous tournament appearances.
UND’s four-game improvement topped all League teams with Kansas City and Omaha right behind as both posted three-game improvements, respectively.
Omaha (14-17, 7-9 SL) will be the No. 6 seed after improving their win total by three in League play. The Mavericks were the No. 10 seed a season ago and won its opening-round game against Kansas City. UND and Omaha will play in Sunday’s second quarterfinal at 8:30 p.m. CT.
For the second straight season, St. Thomas will be the No. 4 seed. The Tommies (19-12, 9-7 SL) will open against No. 5 seed North Dakota State. The Bison (15-16, 8-8 SL) have appeared in the title game in each of the past five tournaments. The last time they did not was in 2018, which was the last time the program was not a top four seed.
Oral Roberts (11-18, 5-11 SL), who is the reigning regular season and tournament champion, will be the No. 8 seed and open the tournament Friday against No. 9 seed South Dakota (12-19, 5-11 SL). The Golden Eagles will look to snap a seven-game skid when they face the Coyotes, who have won two of their last three, including a 77-76 win over ORU on Feb. 24.
ORU and USD will tip at 7 p.m. CT with the winner facing top-seeded SDSU in Saturday’s first quarterfinal at 6 p.m. CT.
South Dakota State (six), North Dakota State (four) and Oral Roberts (two) have combined to win the last 12 men’s tournaments.
Monday’s semifinals are slated for 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. CT. The first one will feature the winner of Saturday’s first quarterfinal (SDSU/G1 Winner) facing the winner of the St. Thomas-NDSU tilt. The late semifinal will feature the winner of Saturday’s second quarterfinal between Kansas City and Denver playing the UND-Omaha winner at 8:30 p.m. CT.
Friday’s first round game, all four quarterfinals and Monday’s semifinals will be televised on Midco Sports and streamed on the Summit League Network powered the Midco Sports Plus app. Tuesday’s championship game is set for 8:30 p.m. CT and will be televised live 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 15th 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.