2026 NAIA Women's Basketball Championship Bracket Revealed

2026 NAIA Women's Basketball Championship Bracket Revealed, Full 64-Teams Annouced

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the teams and bracket for the 2026 NAIA Women’s Basketball Championship First and Second Rounds, presented by Ballogy. 

The 64-team bracket will begin with the First and Second Rounds at host sites nationwide on March 13-14. The 2026 NAIA Second Round winners will meet in Sioux City, Iowa, at the NAIA Championship final site presented by Bomgaars and Sterling. The 45th annual championship occurs at the Tyson Events Center from March 19-24.

This year’s First Round field includes 35 automatic qualifiers and 29 at-large selections. Automatic berths were given to teams that either won their respective conference tournament title or regular season championship, finished runner-up at the conference tournament or were otherwise selected by the conference. 

The NAIA Women’s Basketball National Selection Committee determined the at-large bids. The selection committee consists of one representative from each geographical area and six at-large members, comprised of coaches and administrators from around the country.

Complete 2026 NAIA Women’s Basketball Championship Bracket, 64-Teams Field List

No. Team     —   Qualification    —   Appearances   —   Conference

1. Benedictine (Kan.) — At-Large — 15 — Heart of America Athletic Conference

2. Bethel (Ind.) — At-Large — 8 — Crossroads League

3. Bethel (Kan.) — Tournament Championship No. 2 Seed — 2 — Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference

4. Bethel (Tenn.) — At-Large — 16 — Mid-South Conference

5. Brescia (Ky.) — Tournament Runner-Up — 10 — River States Conference

6. Briar Cliff (Iowa) — At-Large — 18 — Great Plains Athletic Conference

7. Bryan (Tenn.) — Regular-Season Runner-Up — 14 — Appalachian Athletic Conference

8. Campbellsville (Ky.) — At-Large — 34 — Mid-South Conference

9. Carroll (Mont.) — At-Large — 17 — Frontier Conference

10. College of Idaho — At-Large — 10 — Cascade Collegiate Conference

11. College of the Ozarks (Mo.) — At-Large — 30 — Sooner Athletic Conference

12. Columbia (Mo.) — Regular-Season & Tournament Champion — 22 — American Midwest Conference

13. Concordia (Neb.) — At-Large — 24 (1) — Great Plains Athletic Conference

14. Corban (Ore.) — Co-Regular-Season & Tournament Champion — 4 — Cascade Collegiate Conference

15. Cumberlands (Ky.) — At-Large — 20 — Mid-South Conference

16. Dakota State (S.D.) — Regular-Season Champion — 12 — North Star Athletic Association

17. Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) — Tournament Champion — 13 (1) — Great Plains Athletic Conference

18. Dordt (Iowa) — Regular-Season Champion — 7 (2) — Great Plains Athletic Conference

19. Eastern Oregon — Tournament Championship No. 2 Seed — 17 — Cascade Collegiate Conference

20. Evangel (Mo.) — Regular-Season & Tournament Champion — 12 — Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference

21. Faulkner (Ala.) — At-Large — 4 — Southern States Athletic Conference

22. Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) — Tournament Champion — 29 (1) — Mid-South Conference

23. Friends (Kan.) — At-Large — 10 — Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference

24. Georgetown (Ky.) — At-Large — 19 — Mid-South Conference

25. Grand View (Iowa) — Regular-Season Runner-Up — 13 — Heart of America Athletic Conference

26. Haskell (Kan.) — Tournament Champion — 6 — Continental Athletic Conference

27. Hastings (Neb.) — At-Large — 22 (3) — Great Plains Athletic Conference

28. Hope International (Calif.) — Tournament Champion — 4 — Golden State Athletic Conference

29. Huntington (Ind.) — At-Large — 8 — Crossroads League

30. Indiana Tech — Regular-Season & Tournament Champion — 15 — Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference

31. Indiana Wesleyan — At-Large — 23 (2) — Crossroads League

32. Langston (Okla.) — Regular-Season Champion — 17 — Sooner Athletic Conference

33. Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) — At-Large — 28 — Cascade Collegiate Conference

34. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) — At-Large — 20 — Mid-South Conference

35. Loyola (La.) — Regular-Season Champion — 18 — Southern States Athletic Conference

36. LSU Shreveport (La.) — Regular-Season & Tournament Champion — 14 — Red River Athletic Conference

37. Marian (Ind.) — Regular-Season & Tournament Champion — 13 (2) — Crossroads League

38. Mid-America Christian (Okla.) — Tournament Champion — 6 — Sooner Athletic Conference

39. MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) — Regular-Season & Tournament Champion — 18 (1) — Heart of America Athletic Conference

40. Milligan (Tenn.) — Regular-Season & Tournament Champion — 11 — Appalachian Athletic Conference

41. Montana Tech — Tournament Champion — 4 — Frontier Conference

42. Nelson (Texas) — At-Large — 2 — Red River Athletic Conference

43. Northwestern (Iowa) — At-Large — 22 — Great Plains Athletic Conference

44. Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) — Regular-Season & Tournament Champion — 16 — Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference

45. Oregon Tech — At-Large — 9 — Cascade Collegiate Conference

46. Rio Grande (Ohio) — Regular-Season & Tournament Champion — 13 — River States Conference

47. Rochester Christian (Mich.) — Tournament Runner-Up — 4 — Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference

48. Rocky Mountain (Mont.) — At-Large — 9 — Frontier Conference

49. Rust (Miss.) — Tournament Champion — 5 — HBCU Athletic Conference

50. Saint Francis (Ind.) — Tournament Runner-Up — 21 (1) — Crossroads League

51. Saint Mary (Kan.) — At-Large — 3 — Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference

52. Shawnee State (Ohio) — At-Large — 28 (1) — River States Conference

53. Simpson (Calif.) — Tournament Champion — 2 — California Pacific Conference

54. Southeastern (Fla.) — Tournament Champion — 11 — The Sun Conference

55. Southern Oregon — At-Large — 16 — Cascade Collegiate Conference

56. Spring Arbor (Mich.) — At-Large — 7 — Crossroads League

57. St. Francis (Ill.) — Regular-Season Runner-Up — 10 — Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference

58. Talladega (Ala.) — Tournament Runner-Up — 7 — HBCU Athletic Conference

59. Taylor (Ind.) — At-Large — 10 — Crossroads League

60. Tennessee Southern — At-Large — 6 — Mid-South Conference

61. Texas A&M San Antonio — Regular-Season Runner-Up — 1 — Red River Athletic Conference

62. USAO (Okla.) — At-Large — 8 — Sooner Athletic Conference

63. William Carey (Miss.) — Tournament Champion — 6 — Southern States Athletic Conference

64. Williams Baptist (Ark.) — Tournament Runner-Up — 3 — American Midwest Conference  

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