SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Omaha finished off the program’s first regular season title Saturday, capping a 13-3 campaign to earn the No. 1 seed at the Summit League Men’s Basketball Championship slated for March 5-9 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
The Mavericks (19-12, 13-3 SL) earned a share of the title a week ago and claimed the outright trophy with an 80-57 victory in their regular season finale over Oral Roberts (7-22, 3-13 SL) earlier today. Omaha has made a pair of title-game appearances in 2017 and 2019 but will be seeking the program’s first Summit League postseason trophy as well.
The ninth-seeded Golden Eagles will play No. 8 seed Kansas City (12-18, 4-12 SL) in Wednesday’s opening game, which will start 25 minutes after the women’s first-round game that tips at 4:30 p.m. CT. The winner will play the top-seeded Mavericks in Thursday’s opening quarterfinal at 6 p.m. CT.
St. Thomas (22-9, 12-4 SL) put together its best season at the Division I level to earn the No. 2 seed in Sioux Falls. The Tommies, whose 22 wins are their most during the transition from DIII, will play No. 7 seed Denver (11-20, 5-11 SL), who avoided the first-round game with a 78-62 win over South Dakota State in the regular season finale.
St. Thomas, who has won at least one game in each of its first two trips to the postseason, and the Pioneers will play 25 minutes after the opening quarterfinal concludes. DU made a run to the program’s first title game a season ago from the same seed line.
If the Tommies, who are ineligible for NCAA postseason play, were to win the tournament, the top-seeded Mavericks will earn the Summit League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by virtue of winning the regular season title.
South Dakota State (20-11, 11-5 SL) will be the No. 3 seed and open its title defense against No. 6 seed North Dakota (11-20, 5-11 SL) in Friday’s final quarterfinal, which will tip 25 minutes after the quarterfinal between No. 4 North Dakota State (21-10, 10-6 SL) and No. 5 South Dakota (18-13, 9-7 SL) that is set to tip at 6 p.m. CT.
The Jackrabbits (2022 and 2024) and Oral Roberts (2021 and 2023) have split the last four tournament titles. The Bison last won the postseason event in 2020 when they secured back-to-back titles. The Coyotes have made one trip to the final, falling to the Jacks in 2018.
Saturday’s first semifinal will feature the winner of the Omaha-G1 Winner and NDSU-South Dakota winner at 7 p.m. CT. The second semifinal will pit the winner of the St. Thomas-Denver winner vs. the winner of the SDSU-North Dakota winner 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 16th 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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