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2025–26 Summit League men's basketball season

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The 2025–26 Summit League men's basketball season started non-conference play on November 3, 2025, and conference play started on December 31, 2025. The regular season ended on February 28, 2026.

LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Teams9
TV partner(s)Summit League Network, CBS Sports Network
Quick facts League, Sport ...
2025–26 Summit League men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Teams9
TV partner(s)Summit League Network, CBS Sports Network
Regular season
Regular season championNorth Dakota State
Season MVPCarson Johnson, Denver
Summit League tournament
ChampionsNorth Dakota State
  Runners-upNorth Dakota
Tournament MVPDamari Wheeler-Thomas, North Dakota State
Seasons
2026–27 →
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More information Conf., Overall ...
2025–26 Summit League men's basketball standings
Conf.Overall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
North Dakota State †14–2 .87527–8  .771
St. Thomas12–4 .75024–10  .706
North Dakota10–6 .62518–17  .514
South Dakota8–8 .50016–16  .500
Omaha8–8 .50016–17  .485
Denver8–8 .50015–17  .469
South Dakota State7–9 .43814–18  .438
Oral Roberts4–12 .25010–23  .303
Kansas City1–15 .0634–27  .129
† 2026 Summit League tournament winner
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This was the last season in the conference for Denver, as the Pioneers will join the West Coast Conference on July 1, 2026.[1]

North Dakota State finished league play with a 14–2 record as the regular season champion. The 2026 Summit League men's basketball tournament took place from March 4 to 8, 2026. North Dakota State won the tournament, defeating North Dakota in the tournament final, and advanced to the NCAA tournament. In the NCAA tournament, the Bison were seeded 14th in the East region and played 3rd seeded Michigan State. They would fall to the Spartans, 67–92. St. Thomas received an at large bid to play in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). They lost to Seattle in the first round, 52–67.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Offseason

Denver

On March 20, 2025, fourth-year coach Jeff Wulbrun and the Pioneers parted ways.[2] Then, on April 14, 2025, Tim Bergstraser was announced as the next head coach for the Pioneers.[3] Bergstraser was previously a head coach for NCAA Division II Minnesota State–Moorhead.

Oral Roberts

On March 7, 2025, second-year coach Russell Springmann was let go by the Golden Eagles.[4] Then, on March 28, 2025, Kory Barnett was named the next head coach.[5]

South Dakota State

On March 28, 2025, sixth-year coach Eric Henderson left South Dakota State for the head coaching job at Drake.[6] Then, on March 29, 2025, it was announced that Jackrabbits assistant Bryan Petersen would be the next head coach.[7]

Mid-season

Kansas City

On January 12, 2026, fourth-year coach Marvin Menzies announced his intention to retire from coaching upon the conclusion of the 2025–26 season.[8] Later, on February 1, 2026, Kansas City announced the hiring of Mark Turgeon as the next head coach of the Roos, and he will take over after the season ends.[9]

Coaches

More information Team, Head Coach ...
Team Head Coach Previous Job Years At School[a] Record at School[b] Summit League Record Summit League Titles NCAA tournaments[c] NCAA Sweet 16's
Denver Tim Bergstraser Minnesota State–Moorhead 1 0–0[d] 0–0 0 0[e] 0[f]
Kansas City Marvin Menzies Grand Canyon (Associate HC) 4 40–57 21–29 0 5 0
North Dakota Paul Sather Northern State 7 73–115 38–62 0 0 0
North Dakota State David Richman North Dakota State (Assistant) 12 208–142 107–68 3 2 0
Omaha Chris Crutchfield Oregon (Assistant) 4 45–53 24–26 1 1 0
Oral Roberts Kory Barnett West Virginia (Assistant) 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0
St. Thomas John Tauer St. Thomas (Assistant) 14 290–110[g] 34–34 0 0[h] 0[i]
South Dakota Eric Peterson Utah (Assistant) 4 43–52 21–29 0 0 0
South Dakota State Bryan Petersen South Dakota State (Assistant) 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0
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  1. [a]
    Year at school includes 2025–26 season.
  2. [b]
    Overall and Summit League records are from the time at their current school and are through the end of the 2023–24 season.
  3. [c]
    NCAA tournament appearances are from the time at current school only.
  4. [d]
    75 wins and 22 losses at the Division II level
  5. [e]
    3 NCAA Division II Tournaments
  6. [f]
    1 NCAA Division II Sweet 16
  7. [g]
    218 wins and 50 losses at the Division III level
  8. [h]
    8 NCAA Division III Tournaments
  9. [i]
    4 NCAA Division III Sweet 16s, 2 NCAA Division III Final Fours, and 1 NCAA Division III National Championship

Preseason awards

The preseason Summit League men's basketball polls were released on October 7, 2025.[10]

Preseason Poll

First place votes in parentheses

  1. St. Thomas (17) – 501
  2. Omaha (13) – 495
  3. South Dakota State (5) – 450
  4. North Dakota State – 358
  5. South Dakota (1) – 342
  6. Kansas City – 187
  7. Denver – 169
  8. North Dakota – 168
  9. Oral Roberts – 165

Preseason honors

More information Honor, Recipient ...
Honor Recipient
Preseason Player of the Year Nolan Minessale, St. Thomas
Preseason All-Summit League First Team Carter Bjerke, St. Thomas
Isaac Bruns, South Dakota
Kalen Garry, South Dakota State
Nolan Minessale, St. Thomas
Tony Osburn, Omaha
Jayson Petty, Kansas City
Preseason All-Summit League Second Team Noah Feddersen, North Dakota State
Ja'Sean Glover, Omaha
Carson Johnson, Denver
Eli King, North Dakota
Markhi Strickland, North Dakota State
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Regular season

Conference standings

Current as of February 28, 2026[11]

More information Conference, Overall ...
Conference Overall
Rank Team Record Percent Record Percent Tiebreaker
1 North Dakota State 14–2 .875 24–7 .774
2 St. Thomas 12–4 .750 23–8 .742
3 North Dakota 10–6 .625 16–16 .500
4 South Dakota 8–8 .500 16–15 .516 3–1 vs. Omaha, Denver
5 Omaha 8–8 .500 15–16 .484 2–2 vs. South Dakota, Denver
6 Denver 8–8 .500 15–16 .484 1–3 vs. South Dakota, Omaha
7 South Dakota State 7–9 .438 14–17 .452
8 Oral Roberts 4–12 .250 9–22 .290
9 Kansas City 1–15 .063 4–26 .133
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Conference matrix

More information Denver, Kansas City ...
  Denver Kansas City North Dakota North Dakota State Omaha Oral Roberts St. Thomas South Dakota South Dakota State
vs. Denver –0–21–11–12–01–11–11–11–1
vs. Kansas City 2–0–2–02–01–12–02–02–02–0
vs. North Dakota 1–10–2–2–01–10–21–10–21–1
vs. North Dakota State 1–10–20–2–0–20–21–10–20–2
vs. Omaha 0–21–11–12–0–0–21–12–01–1
vs. Oral Roberts 1–10–22–02–02–0–2–01–12–0
vs. St. Thomas 1–10–21–11–11–10–2–0–20–2
vs. South Dakota 1–10–22–02–00–21–12–0–0–2
vs. South Dakota State 1–10–21–12–01–10–22–02–0–
Total 8–81–1510–614–28–84–1212–48–87–9
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Through February 28, 2026

Players of the Week

More information Week, Player(s) of the Week ...
Week[12] Player(s) of the Week School
Nov. 11[13] Jeremiah Burke Denver
Nov. 18[14] Nolan Minessale St. Thomas
Nov. 25[15] Nolan Minessale (2) St. Thomas (2)
Dec. 2[16] Isaac Bruns South Dakota
Dec. 9[17] Nolan Minessale (3) St. Thomas (3)
Dec. 16[18] Nolan Minessale (4) St. Thomas (4)
Dec. 23[19] Lance Waddles Omaha
Dec. 30[20] Trevian Carson North Dakota State
Jan. 6[21] Nick Janowski St. Thomas (5)
Jan. 13[22] Treyson Anderson North Dakota State (2)
Jan. 20[23] Carson Johnson Denver (2)
Jan. 27[24] Greyson Uelmen North Dakota
Feb. 3[25] Paul Djobet Omaha (2)
Feb. 10[26] Carson Johnson (2) Denver (3)
Feb. 17[27] Valentino Simon Omaha (3)
Feb. 24[28] Carson Johnson (3) Denver (4)
Mar. 2[29] Ty Harper Oral Roberts
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Records against other conferences

As of December 29, 2025:

More information Major 6 Conferences, Record ...
Major 6 Conferences Record Major 6 Conferences Record
ACC None American 0–4
Big East 0–2 Big Ten 0–4
Big 12 0–7 SEC 0–6
Major 6 Total 0–23
Other Division I Conferences Record Other Division I Conferences Record
Atlantic 10 None ASUN 0–1
America East None Big Sky 10–13
Big South 2–0 Big West 4–7
CAA None Conference USA 2–3
Horizon League 1–1 Ivy League None
Independents None MAAC 1–1
MAC 2–0 MEAC 1–0
MVC 2–4 MWC 2–5
NEC None OVC 3–2
Patriot League 1–0 SoCon None
Southland 1–0 SWAC 1–0
Sun Belt 1–3 WAC 1–4
WCC 1–4
Other Division I Total 36–48
NCAA Division I Total 36–71
NCAA Division II Total 5–0
NCAA Division III Total 4–0
NAIA Total 17–0
NCCAA Total 3–0
Total Non-Conference Record 65–71
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Record against ranked non-conference opponents

Summit League records against ranked teams (rankings from AP Poll, Summit teams in Bold):

More information Date, Visitor ...
DateVisitorHomeSiteScoreConference recordReference
November 3North DakotaNo. 15 AlabamaColeman Coliseum
Tuscaloosa, AL		L 62–910–1[30]
November 24DenverNo. 2 ArizonaMcKale Center
Tucson, AZ		L 73–1030–2[31]
December 21North DakotaNo. 15 NebraskaPinnacle Bank Arena
Lincoln, NE		L 55–780–3[32]
December 29South Dakota StateNo. 1 ArizonaMcKale Center
Tucson, AZ		L 71–990–4[33]
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Points scored

More information Team, For ...
Team For Against Difference
Denver 2583 2567 +16
Kansas City 2087 2516 –429
North Dakota 2468 2502 –34
North Dakota State 2525 2189 +336
Omaha 2381 2386 –5
Oral Roberts 2271 2420 –149
St. Thomas 2582 2232 +350
South Dakota 2485 2490 –5
South Dakota State 2346 2251 +95
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Through February 28, 2026[34]

Home attendance

More information Team, Arena ...
Team Arena Capacity Total Games Average Attendance Attendance High Total Attendance % of Capacity
Denver Hamilton Gymnasium 2,500 14 1,019 1,839
Jan 22 vs. North Dakota St		 14,275 40.8%
Kansas City Swinney Recreation Center 1,500 14 701 1,114
Feb 28 vs. Oral Roberts		 9,827 46.8%
North Dakota Betty Engelstad Sioux Center 3,300 16 1,753 2,918
Feb 14 vs. North Dakota St		 28,058 53.1%
North Dakota State Scheels Center 5,460 14 1,980 5,426
Feb 28 vs. North Dakota		 27,728 36.3%
Omaha Baxter Arena 7,898 14 2,872 3,669
Jan 10 vs. North Dakota St		 40,212 36.3%
Oral Roberts Mabee Center 10,154 14 3,288 5,467
Nov 12 vs. Tulsa		 46,038 32.4%
St. Thomas Lee and Penny Anderson Arena 5,300 14 2,883 5,325
Nov 8 vs. Army
Dec 11 vs. St. John's (MN)		 40,370 54.4%
South Dakota Sanford Coyote Sports Center 6,000 16 1,561 3,569
Feb 28 vs. South Dakota St		 24,991 26.0%
South Dakota State First Bank and Trust Arena 6,500 13 2,808 4,451
Jan 18 vs. Kansas City		 36,507 43.2%
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Bold - Exceed capacity
As of February 28, 2026
Does not include exhibition games

National Television Games

Any games that league members will play on National Television, including the Summit League's media contract with CBS Sports Network, are listed here.[35]

Summit League members in bold

More information Date Time (CT), Road Team ...
Date
Time (CT)		 Road Team Home team Final Score Network
November 24, 2025
9:30 PM		 Denver No. 2 Arizona L 73–103 CBSSN
January 3, 2026
3 PM		 Oral Roberts North Dakota State NDSU 79–772OT CBSSN
February 1, 2026
1 PM		 Kansas City St. Thomas UST 99–64 CBSSN
February 4, 2026
6 PM		 St. Thomas South Dakota State UST 77–62 CBSSN
February 7, 2026
5 PM		 South Dakota South Dakota State USD 68–67 CBSSN
February 14, 2026
1 PM		 North Dakota State North Dakota NDSU 83–66 CBSSN
February 15, 2026
12 PM		 Denver Omaha UNO 83–76 CBSSN
February 25, 2026
6 PM		 Omaha South Dakota USD 89–72 CBSSN
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All–League Awards

More information Honor, Recipient ...
Honor Recipient
Player of the Year Carson Johnson, Denver
Defensive Player of the Year Eli King, North Dakota
Sixth Man of the Year Noah Feddersen, North Dakota State
Freshman of the Year Nick Janowski, St. Thomas
Coach of the Year David Richman, North Dakota State
All-Summit League First Team Trevian Carson, North Dakota State
Paul Djobet, Omaha,
Cameron Fens, South Dakota
Nick Janowski, St. Thomas
Carson Johnson, Denver
Nolan Minessale, St. Thomas
All-Summit League Second Team Jordan Crawford, South Dakota
Eli King, North Dakota
Ty Harper, Oral Roberts
Greyson Uelmen, North Dakota
Damari Wheeler-Thomas, North Dakota State
All-Summit League Honorable Mention Carter Bjerke, St. Thomas
Jeremiah Burke, Denver
Joe Sayler, South Dakota State
Andy Stefonowicz, North Dakota State
Damon Wilkinson, South Dakota State
All-Defensive Team Trevian Carson, North Dakota State
Cameron Fens, South Dakota
Ja'Sean Glover, Omaha
Eli King, North Dakota
Nolan Minessale, St. Thomas
All-Newcomer Team Trevian Carson, North Dakota State
Paul Djobet, Omaha
Nick Janowski, St. Thomas
Carter Johnson, Denver
Greyson Uelmen, North Dakota
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Source:[36]

Postseason

Conference tournament

Main article: 2026 Summit League men's basketball tournament

All 9 teams qualified for the 2026 Summit League men's basketball tournament. The tournament was held at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota from March 4 to 8, 2026.

First Round
March 4
MidcoSN/SLN 		Quarterfinals
March 5 & 6
MidcoSN/SLN 		Semifinals
March 7
CBSSN 		Championship
March 8
CBSSN
1 North Dakota State 76
8 Oral Roberts 84 8 Oral Roberts 65
9 Kansas City 62 1 North Dakota State 74
5 Omaha 50
4 South Dakota 62
5 Omaha 76
1 North Dakota State 70
3 North Dakota 62
2 St. Thomas 80
7 South Dakota State 67
2 St. Thomas 66
3 North Dakota 67
3 North Dakota 83
6 Denver 67

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
More information Seed, Region ...
Seed Region School First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship
No. 14 East North Dakota State lost to No. 3 Michigan State — — — —
1 Bid W-L (%): 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–1 (.000)
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NIT

Main article: 2026 National Invitation Tournament
More information Region, School ...
Region School First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship
Auburn Region St. Thomas lost to No. 4 Seattle — — —
1 Bid W-L (%): 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) 0–0 (–) TOTAL: 0–1 (.000)
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References

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