2026 Summit League men's basketball tournament
American college basketball postseason tournament
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The 2026 Summit League men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Summit League for the 2025–26 season. All tournament games were played at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, from March 4–8, 2026.[1][2]
| 2026 Summit League men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| |
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 9 |
| Site | Denny Sanford Premier Center Sioux Falls, South Dakota |
| Champions | North Dakota State (6th title) |
| Winning coach | David Richman (4th title) |
| MVP | Damari Wheeler-Thomas (NDSU) |
| Attendance | 29,663 (overall) 5,937 (championship) |
| Television | CBSSN, Midco Sports/SLN |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Dakota State † | 14 | – | 2 | .875 | 27 | – | 8 | .771 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| St. Thomas | 12 | – | 4 | .750 | 24 | – | 10 | .706 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Dakota | 10 | – | 6 | .625 | 18 | – | 17 | .514 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Dakota | 8 | – | 8 | .500 | 16 | – | 16 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Omaha | 8 | – | 8 | .500 | 16 | – | 17 | .485 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Denver | 8 | – | 8 | .500 | 15 | – | 17 | .469 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| South Dakota State | 7 | – | 9 | .438 | 14 | – | 18 | .438 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Oral Roberts | 4 | – | 12 | .250 | 10 | – | 23 | .303 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kansas City | 1 | – | 15 | .063 | 4 | – | 27 | .129 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 Summit League tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season champion North Dakota State defeated North Dakota to win the tournament and receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Seeds
All nine conference teams participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. The tiebreakers operated in the following order:
- Head-to-head record
- Record against the top-seeded team not involved in the tie, going down through the standings until the tie is broken
| Seed | School | League Record |
Tiebreaker(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota State | 14–2 | |
| 2 | St. Thomas | 12–4 | |
| 3 | North Dakota | 10–6 | |
| 4 | South Dakota | 8–8 | 3–1 vs. Omaha/Denver |
| 5 | Omaha | 8–8 | 2–2 vs. South Dakota/Denver |
| 6 | Denver | 8–8 | 1–3 vs. South Dakota/Omaha |
| 7 | South Dakota State | 7–9 | |
| 8 | Oral Roberts | 4–12 | |
| 9 | Kansas City | 1–15 |
Schedule and results
| Game | Time[3] | Matchup | Score | Attendance | Television | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Round – Wednesday, March 4 | ||||||
| 1 | 7:00 pm | No. 8 Oral Roberts vs. No. 9 Kansas City | 84–62 | 3,675 | Midco Sports/ SLN | |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 5 | ||||||
| 2 | 6:00 pm | No. 1 North Dakota State vs. No. 8 Oral Roberts | 76–65 | 6,614 | Midco Sports/ SLN | |
| 3 | 8:30 pm | No. 2 St. Thomas vs. No. 7 South Dakota State | 80–67 | |||
| Quarterfinals – Friday, March 6 | ||||||
| 4 | 6:00 pm | No. 4 South Dakota vs. No. 5 Omaha | 76–62 | 6,723 | Midco Sports/ SLN | |
| 5 | 8:35 pm | No. 3 North Dakota vs. No. 6 Denver | 83–67 | |||
| Semifinals - Saturday, March 7 | ||||||
| 6 | 7:15 pm | No. 1 North Dakota State vs. No. 5 Omaha | 74–50 | 6,684 | CBSSN | |
| 7 | 9:45 pm | No. 2 St. Thomas vs. No. 3 North Dakota | 67–66 | |||
| Championship – Sunday, March 8 | ||||||
| 8 | 8:00 pm | No. 1 North Dakota State vs. No. 3 North Dakota | 70–62 | 5,937 | CBSSN | |
| *Game times in CST through the semifinals and CDT for the final. Rankings denote tournament seed. Reference:[4][5] | ||||||
Bracket
| First Round March 4 Midco Sports/SLN | Quarterfinals March 5 & 6 Midco Sports/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 | |||||||||||||||||
Game summaries
First Round
Quarterfinals
| No. 1 North Dakota State 76, No. 8 Oral Roberts 65 | ||
| Scoring by half: 36–26, 40–39 | ||
| Pts: Wheeler-Thomas, 18 Rebs: Feddersen, 11 Asts: Stefonowicz, 7 |
Pts: Dow, 24 Rebs: Naveh, 10 Asts: Tied (2), 4 | |
| Game 1 | ||
Midco Sports/ SLN |
March 5 8:30 p.m. |
| No. 2 St. Thomas 80, No. 7 South Dakota State 67 | ||
| Scoring by half: 39–37, 41–30 | ||
| Pts: Oosterbaan, 23 Rebs: Minessale, 8 Asts: Minessale, 6 |
Pts: Jackson, 16 Rebs: Tied (2), 6 Asts: Sayler, 4 | |
| Game 2 | ||
Denny Sanford Premier Center Sioux Falls, SD Attendance: 6,614 Referees: Burris, Kueneman, Schumer |
Midco Sports/ SLN |
| No. 4 South Dakota 62, No. 5 Omaha 76 | ||
| Scoring by half: 31–34, 31–42 | ||
| Pts: Buzelis, 16 Rebs: Tied (2), 12 Asts: Buzelis, 3 |
Pts: Glover, 25 Rebs: Djobet, 14 Asts: Glover, 3 | |
| Game 3 | ||
Denny Sanford Premier Center Sioux Falls, SD Attendance: 6,723 Referees: Anslinger, Love, Smith |
Midco Sports/ SLN |
March 6 8:35 p.m. |
| No. 3 North Dakota 83, No. 6 Denver 67 | ||
| Scoring by half: 42–29, 41–38 | ||
| Pts: Uelmen, 41 Rebs: Curtis, 8 Asts: Tied (2), 3 |
Pts: Johnson, 17 Rebs: Oldham, 7 Asts: Nelson, 4 | |
| Game 4 | ||
Denny Sanford Premier Center Sioux Falls, SD Attendance: 6,723 Referees: McNutt, Stewart, VonSossan |
Semifinals
| No. 1 North Dakota State 74, No. 5 Omaha 50 | ||
| Scoring by half: 40–25, 34–25 | ||
| Pts: Anderson, 16 Rebs: Feddersen, 13 Asts: Stefonowicz, 8 |
Pts: Glover, 13 Rebs: Glover, 6 Asts: Stubblefield, 3 | |
| Game 1 | ||
CBS Sports Network |
March 7 9:45 p.m. |
| No. 2 St. Thomas 66, No. 3 North Dakota 67 | ||
| Scoring by half: 34–28, 32–39 | ||
| Pts: Minessale, 23 Rebs: Minessale, 9 Asts: Herro, 7 |
Pts: Uelmen, 28 Rebs: Natsvishvili, 7 Asts: Natsvishvili, 3 | |
| Game 2 | ||
Denny Sanford Premier Center Sioux Falls, SD Attendance: 6,684 Referees: McNutt, Riggs, Stewart |
Championship
All–Tournament Team
The following players were named to the All–Tournament Team:[6]
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Noah Feddersen | North Dakota State |
| Eli King | North Dakota |
| Nolan Minessale | St. Thomas |
| Greyson Uelmen | North Dakota |
| Damari Wheeler-Thomas (MVP) | North Dakota State |