Oklahoma City – The Sooner Athletic Conference placed five teams in the upcoming NAIA Women’s Basketball National Tournament that is slated to begin on March 13, 2026, at 16 host sites from around the country. The 64-team tournament field was announced by the national office on Thursday evening.
 
SAC Tournament Champions Mid-American Christian, SAC regular-season champions Langston, Nelson, Science & Arts, and College of the Ozarks all received bids to the national tournament.
 
Langston will join the field as the No. 8 seed in the Naismith Bracket and will travel to Henderson, Tenn., to take on the No. 9 seed Bethel, Ind. The top seed. In the bracket is Freed-Hardeman, and they will face the No. 16 seed Rust.
 
Mid-America Christian will head to Olathe, Kan., as the No. 5 seed in the Cramer Bracket and will take on the No. 12 seed Olivet Nazarene. The host and No. 4 seed are MidAmerica Nazarene, as they will face the No. 13 seed Saint Mary in the other opening round contest.
 
Nelson is the No. 12 seed in the Duer Bracket, and they will travel to Lewiston, Idaho, to face the No. 5 seed Montana Tech. The No. 4 seed and host Lewis-Clark State will meet the No. 13 seed Hope International in the other first-round game.
 
College of the Ozarks is also in the Duer Bracket as the No. 10 seed and will head to Mitchell, S.D., to take on the No. 7 seed Eastern Oregon. No. 2 seed Dakota Wesleyan is the host for this first/second round and will meet up with the No. 15 seed St. Francis.
 
Science & Arts joins the field as the No. 13 seed in the Liston Bracket and will take on the No. 4 seed Evangel in Springfield, Mo. No. 5 seed William Carey will face the No. 12 seed Shawnee State in the other first-round contest.
 
The winners of the 16 host sites will advance to the Tyson Event Center in Sioux City, Iowa, for the 45^th Annual National Championship, set to start on March 19, with the championship game scheduled for March 24.
 
Go to the NAIA Women’s Basketball Tournament page for more information about the tournament.