Four NSIC men’s and three NSIC women’s teams from Minnesota were invited to the NCAA Division II basketball tournaments Sunday night.
Concordia (St. Paul) makes NCAA Division II men’s basketball tournament for first time
The Golden Bears women also are in as the Central Region’s No. 2 seed following a 29-2 season.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 10, 2025 at 5:33AM
On the men’s side, Concordia (St. Paul) earned its first-ever selection to the NCAA tournament. The Golden Bears went 21-8 this season and earned the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Central Region tournament, which will be held in Topeka, Kan., home of top-seeded Washburn.
Concordia will play fourth-seeded Minot State (26-9) on Saturday, with the winner playing either Washburn (26-3) or eighth-seeded Harding (22-9) on Sunday. Concordia lost to Minto State 94-85 in the NSIC tournament quarterfinals March 1 in Sioux Falls.
Minnesota State Moorhead (23-8) earned the No. 2 seed and will play seventh-seeded Fort Hays State on Saturday, with the winner facing the winner of the following game between third-seeded Winona State (21-10) and sixth-seeded Southwest Minnesota State (21-8). It’s the fifth year in a row the Dragons have qualified for the NCAA tournament.
The Concordia women’s team also made the Central Region tournament. The Golden Bears (29-2) are the No. 2 seed and face seventh-seeded Southwest Minnesota State (26-4) on Friday in Pittsburg, Kan. The Golden Bears beat the host Mustangs 72-68 on Dec. 7 in their lone matchup this season.
The other NSIC team in the field is fifth-seeded Minnesota State Mankato (24-7), the defending NCAA champion. The Mavericks, who lost the NSIC tournament championship game to Concordia, play fourth-seeded Missouri Western (20-9). The Mavericks men’s team, which also won the NCAA championship last year, did not make this year’s field.
The Tommies, in their final year of probation after moving up from Division III to D-I, aren’t eligible for the postseason until 2026.
