Carroll College to host joint men's and women's NAIA selection watch party

Carroll College posted on its athletics site that it would host a joint on-campus and community watch party for the NAIA Basketball Tournament selection shows, the page titled "Carroll Basketball NAIA Selection Show Watch Party Information" said in a post timestamped 03/02/26 | 1:19 PM. The announcement frames the gathering as an opportunity for students, fans and alumni to "follow the selection announcements together," according to the Carroll College Athletics page.

Local coverage identified a specific off-campus venue for selection-show viewing. MontanaSports reported, "The Carroll men and women are hosting selection show watch parties Thursday evening at Ten Mile Creek Brewing Company where they expect to learn their opening-round opponents." That account names Ten Mile Creek Brewing Company in Helena as a community gathering spot for the events.

The watch-party timing ties directly to the NAIA selection process: "HELENA — Thursday evening, the NAIA will unveil the full brackets for its men’s and women’s basketball national tournaments," a Carroll Athletics story noted, explaining the stakes for Carroll's programs. The same Carroll story lays out the selection mechanics: "The NAIA has a national selection committee responsible for making the 30 at-large selections and seeding the entire 64-team field accordingly."

Team status details framed why local fans seek the bracket announcements. Carroll men have favorable projections, with bracketology experts saying, "As of right now, bracketology experts are predicting the Carroll men to make the field pretty comfortably, earning as high as a No. 9 seed in some projections." The Carroll women enter the selection conversation after finishing third in the Frontier regular-season standings but losing in the Frontier tournament quarterfinals to Montana Western, 65-56: "So, the Fighting Saints women will also need to receive an at-large bid from the national selection committee for their season to continue. Most bracketology experts expect the Carroll women to make the national tournament field, but they're likely more on the bubble than the men are."

Published materials present a factual discrepancy about venue that remains unresolved in public postings. Carroll Athletics describes the event as an on-campus and community watch party in its 03/02/26 | 1:19 PM post, while MontanaSports explicitly lists Ten Mile Creek Brewing Company as the Thursday-evening location. The Carroll Athletics page itself includes footer items as displayed on the site, such as "Carroll College Athletics," "Frontier conference," "Carroll College," "NAINA School of Character" and "National Assocoation Of International Athletics(NAIA)," reflecting how the announcement appeared online.

With the NAIA selection committee responsible for 30 at-large picks to complete each 64-team bracket, Carroll supporters were directed to communal watch parties to learn opening-round opponents. Because the published notices differ on whether the primary gathering is on campus or at Ten Mile Creek Brewing Company, official confirmation from Carroll College Athletics or the brewery is required to reconcile location, start time and event logistics.