UMD Men's and Women's Basketball Both Earn NCAA Division II Tournament Bids

For the first time in more than two decades, the University of Minnesota Duluth men's basketball team won the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament championship, earning an automatic bid to the 2026 NCAA Division II Tournament. The women's program secured an at-large berth on the same day, described by the Duluth News Tribune as "the last possible at-large berth." Both Bulldog squads landed as No. 8 seeds in the Central Region bracket and drew No. 1 seeds in the opening round.

The men's NSIC title, clinched last Tuesday in Sioux Falls, was the program's first conference tournament championship since 2003. The Bulldogs carried momentum into the bracket, having won eight straight games entering the tournament field, including four NSIC tournament victories and the final four regular-season games dating back to Feb. 12. Head coach Justin Wieck's squad finished the year at 21-11, and this marks his fourth NCAA appearance as UMD's head coach and the program's seventh overall.

The men's opening-round opponent, Washburn, is the Central Region's top seed at 31-1 and won the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association tournament championship. WDIO reported the Ichabods went 13-0 at home this season and entered on a nine-game winning streak. The matchup carries a brief but significant history: the only prior meeting between the two programs came in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, where UMD fell to Washburn. The men travel to Topeka, Kansas for that rematch, with WDIO reporting a Saturday tip time of 5:30 p.m.

On the women's side, Mandy Pearson's squad finished 20-8 to earn the program's 16th NCAA Tournament appearance and her sixth as head coach. Their opening-round opponent, Minnesota State Mankato, went 29-2 and dominated the NSIC regular season before losing to Concordia-St. Paul in both the regular-season finale and the NSIC tournament championship. The Mavericks went 14-0 at home this season, and UMD will be playing on that court as the road team.

The two programs met once this season, on Jan. 16 in Mankato, in what turned into one of the stranger games in the series. Minnesota State led by 21 points with 5:47 remaining and still needed to survive three possessions in the final 36 seconds before holding on, 81-78. UMD has now dropped three straight in the series heading into the rematch.

Pearson addressed the matchup directly. "I'm thankful because we know what we're getting into. We've played them before, so that makes my job, I don't want to say easier, but the scouting, it changes a little bit when you know what you're looking for in those sorts of things. I'm excited about it, and honestly, it's really cool that we get to stay in the state of Minnesota and hopefully more fans can come and watch us play," she said.

The women's game in Mankato was scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m. Concordia-St. Paul, which beat Minnesota State in the NSIC tournament final, enters the same bracket as the No. 2 seed on the opposite side from UMD.