March 11, 2008
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially released the field of 32 teams for the 71st Annual Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship, which will be held March 19-25 in Kansas City, Mo. Coined college basketball's toughest tournament, Municipal Auditorium hosts 32 teams playing in 31 games over a seven-day span.
The championship is a single-elimination tournament featuring 15 automatic qualifiers from eleven Division I affiliated conferences, one independent and 16 at-large berths, which are determined using the final regular-season rating released March 5.
Of the 32 teams, Georgetown (Ky.) is making the most appearances with its 25th. The Tigers, who own the only perfect record in Division I play at 32-0, also makes its 17th straight Championship. Defending national champion Oklahoma City has a Championship record of 41-11 (.788) in 16 previous appearances. The Stars own the most Championships (5) of any program in this year's field. Emmanuel (Ga.) is the lone team without any Championships experience. The Lions are out of the Southern States Athletic Conference and was the league tournament runners-up.
The first 28 games of the Championships will be video-streamed live on the Internet, while the Semifinal round and National Championship Game on March 25 will air live nationwide on CBS College Sports Network (CSTV), with Jason Knapp calling the action and Steve Wolf providing color analysis.
The official tournament bracket will be released on Wednesday, March 12 by 5 p.m. (CST).
For more information on the Championships, click here.
For complete conference tournament breakdown, click here.
Team (Overall Record^) Qualification Appearances* Record# Titles
|
Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.) (19-8) |
At-Large 4 |
10th |
9-9 |
0 |
|
Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (22-10) |
At-Large 3 |
15th |
23-14 |
0 |
|
California Baptist (23-8) |
Golden State Athletic Tournament Runners-Up |
4th |
2-3 |
0 |
|
Campbellsville (Ky.) (24-9) |
At-Large 15 |
6th |
2-5 |
0 |
|
Carroll (Mont.) (23-8) |
At-Large 11 |
8th |
6-7 |
0 |
|
Columbia (Mo.) (25-8) |
At-Large 5 |
13th |
3-12 |
0 |
|
Concordia (Calif.) (28-4) |
Golden State Athletic Regular Season & Tournament Champion |
6th |
15-4 |
1 |
|
Cumberland (Tenn.) (21-11) |
At-Large 14 |
2nd |
1-1 |
0 |
|
Cumberlands (Ky.) (19-13) |
At-Large 9 |
18th |
11-17 |
0 |
|
Emmanuel (Ga.) (16-17) |
Southern States Athletic Tournament Runners-Up |
1st |
0-0 |
0 |
|
Georgetown (Ky.) (32-0) |
Mid-South Tournament Champion |
27th |
46-25 |
1 |
|
Lambuth (Tenn.) (28-3) |
TranSouth Athletic Regular Season & Tournament Champion |
4th |
1-3 |
0 |
|
Langston (Okla.) (12-12) |
Red River Athletic Tournament Champion |
3rd |
0-2 |
0 |
|
Lee (Tenn.) (31-1) |
Southern States Athletic Regular Season Champion |
5th |
3-4 |
0 |
|
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) (22-9) |
Frontier Tournament Champion |
7th |
2-6 |
0 |
|
Louisiana State-Shreveport (30-2) |
Gulf Coast Athletic Regular Season & Tournament Champion |
4th |
1-3 |
0 |
|
Martin Methodist (Tenn.) (25-7) |
At-Large 2 |
5th |
2-4 |
0 |
|
McKendree (Ill.) (26-6) |
American Midwest Tournament Champion |
12th |
9-11 |
0 |
|
Mobile (Ala.) (22-9) |
At-Large 6 |
9th |
7-8 |
0 |
|
Mountain State (W.V.) (30-2) |
Independent Tournament Champion |
7th |
13-5 |
1 |
|
Oklahoma Baptist (22-9) |
At-Large 7 |
20th |
43-18 |
1 |
|
Oklahoma City (26-7) |
Sooner Athletic Regular Season & Tournament Champion |
18th |
42-12 |
5 |
|
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) (17-14) |
At-Large 12 |
14th |
10-13 |
0 |
|
Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) (23-9) |
At-Large 13 |
8th |
4-7 |
0 |
|
Robert Morris (Ill.) (26-3) |
Chicagoland Collegiate Tournament Champion |
5th |
10-4 |
0 |
|
Science & Arts (Okla.) (17-15) |
Sooner Athletic Tournament Runners-Up |
4th |
10-2 |
1 |
|
St. Xavier (Ill.) (24-8) |
At-Large 16 |
9th |
4-8 |
0 |
|
Southern Nazarene (Okla.) (23-8) |
At-Large 1 |
9th |
10-7 |
1 |
|
Texas Wesleyan (19-10) |
At-Large 8 |
9th |
11-7 |
1 |
|
Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) (24-8) |
TranSouth Athletic Tournament Runners-Up |
5th |
4-4 |
0 |
|
Wayland Baptist (Texas) (19-12) |
At-Large 10 |
14th |
7-13 |
0 |
|
Xavier (La.) (24-9) |
Gulf Coast Athletic Tournament Runners-Up |
11th |
4-10 |
0 |
^ Based on conference websites
* Includes 2008 Championship
# Based on available records
