Tickets Punched: BBall Teams both earn At-Large Bids

HELENA, Mont. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the 64-team fields for both their Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, and both the Carroll College Basketball teams have earned At-Large bids for their respective tournaments.

The NAIA Kicked-off selection show Thursday at 5 p.m., announcing the full field for the 2026 NAIA Men’s Basketball Championship. The Carroll Men (20-9, 17-5), who finished tied for second in the Frontier Conference standings, were announced as a 10-seed for the upcoming tournament. The Fighting Saints will head to Chandler, Ariz. where they will take on seventh-seeded Wayland Baptist (Texas) on Friday, March 13. The two other schools competing in the opening round pod include (2) Arizona Christian, host-school for the four-team pod, and 15-seed Corban.

The tournament appearance is the 18th in program history, and the first trip to the big dance under Head Coach Dan Pearson, as the Saints missed out on qualification last season.

The Carroll Women (19-10, 17-5), who finished in a tie for third place in the Frontier Conference standings, were announced as a Nine-Seed for the 2026 NAIA Women’s Basketball Championship. The Saints will play their First & Second Round games in Indianapolis, Ind., looking to punch their ticket to the final site in Sioux City, Iowa. Carroll will begin their tournament against the eighth-seeded Cougars of Columbia College (Mo.) on Friday, March 13. Host-school, and top-seeded Marian will take on (16) Haskell to round out the four team pod.

This marks the ninth-straight season in which the Fighting Saints have either earned an auto-bid or been selected to compete in the NAIA National Championship.