By Jarrett Hoffman
(Source HBCU):
The NAIA has announced its men’s and women’s basketball national tournament field, featuring nine HBCU teams across both brackets.
Here are the HBCU teams that will compete for an NAIA national title.
Men
(No. 2 seed) Florida Memorial Lions
First-round matchup: vs. Evangel (Mo.)
Florida Memorial was the first team to hear their name called as part of the NAIA tournament field, securing the two-seed in the Naismith quadrant.
The Lions come into the tournament with a 24-6 overall record, including wins in six of their last seven contests.
Florida Memorial secured the Sun Conference title following a 65-61 win over St. Thomas (Fla.) in the conference championship game.
(No. 9 seed) Texas College Steers
First-round matchup: Point Park (Pa.)
Texas College enters the NAIA National Tournament as an at-large bid off its best single-season performance over a decade.
The Steers make it to the big dance with a 22-8 overall record, marking their first 20-win season since 2009-2010.
They were eliminated prematurely in the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) tournament, losing to Southwest in the semifinals.
The Steers will face a Point Park team that has won 10 straight games, including a win in the River States Conference championship game.
(No.1 seed) Langston Lions
First-round matchup: Bellevue (Neb.)
For the second year, the Langston Lions will be the number one seed in the NAIA National Tournament.
The Lions come into the tournament with a 30-1 overall record, having won their last 11 games.
Langston won its second straight Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) championship following a 55-44 win over Mid-America Christian.
They will clash with a Bellevue team that went on a Cinderella run in the NorthStar Athletic Association (NSAA) tournament.
Finishing the regular season with an 11-15 record, Bellevue won four straight games, culminating in a 67-47 win over Dickinson State to claim the NSAA conference title.
(No. 10 seed) Tougaloo Bulldogs
First-round matchup: Tennessee Southern
Despite falling short of its second straight Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC) championship, the Tougaloo Bulldogs will play for a national championship.
Tougaloo finished the regular season with a 23-5 record, marking the third year they have completed a season with at least 20 wins.
The Bulldogs were denied a third straight GCAC tournament title, losing their opening contest to Dillard.
Tougaloo will play a Tennessee Southern team that lost in the Southern States Athletic Conference championship game to 2022 NAIA tournament champion Loyola (LA).
(No. 15 seed) Philander Smith Panthers
First-round matchup: Cumberlands (Ky.)
Rounding out the men’s tournament field is the team that claimed the GCAC tournament championship, the Philander Smith Panthers.
Philander Smith enters the tournament with a 21-8 overall record. After falling short in last year’s GCAC championship game, the Panthers finished the job this time, knocking off Dillard 85-67.
Awaiting the Panthers is a Cumberlands team that fell short to Georgetown (Ky) in the semifinals of the Mid-South Conference tournament.
Women
(No. 16 seed) Fisk Bulldogs
First-round matchup: Indiana Wesleyan
The Fisk Bulldogs were the first team to hear their name called in the women’s tournament bracket as the 16-seed in the Cramer Quadrant.
The Bulldogs come into the tournament riding a season in which they finished with a 20-9 overall record.
They advanced to the GCAC championship game, where they fell apart, losing 67-39 to Rust.
Fisk will be upset-minded heading into the national tournament against an Indiana Wesleyan team that lost in the Crossroads League tournament championship game.
(No.10 seed) Rust Bearcats
First-round matchup: Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)
Rust, the team that knocked off Fisk in the GCAC championship game, will look to add a national title to its resume this season.
The Bearcats come into the national tournament riding a 15-game win streak, holding a 28-3 overall record.
They will match up with a Dakota Wesleyan team that was eliminated in the semifinals of the Great Plains Athletic Conference tournament.
Photo: Xavier Athletics
(No. 8 seed) Langston Lions
First-round matchup: Spring Arbor (Mich.)
Langston is the only HBCU with women’s and men’s basketball teams represented in the NAIA national tournament.
The Lions come into the tourney with their best record since the 2015-2016 season, posting a 24-7 mark. They fell short of a SAC tournament championship, losing 53-42 to John Brown.
Langston will battle in the first round against a Spring Arbor team that lost in the semifinals of the Crossroads League tournament to the aforementioned Indiana Wesleyan.
(No. 14 seed) Xavier (La.) Gold Nuggets
First-round matchup: John Brown (Ark.)
Last but not least, the Gold Nuggets of Xavier University of Louisiana come into the national tournament off a disappointing finish in the RRAC tournament.
The Gold Nuggets finished the regular season with a 25-6 overall record. Entering the RRAC tournament championship game on a six-game win streak, they were bested by an LSU-Shreveport team responsible for three of its six losses this season.
Their national tournament run will start against three-seed John Brown (Ark.), who has won 26 straight games.
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