KANSAS CITY, MO. (March 14, 2018) – (Press Book – PDF) (Bracket - PDF) (Live Stats) The 81st annual NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship tipped off this morning, Wednesday, March 14 inside Municipal Auditorium. The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) Saints are scheduled for their fourth trip to the single-elimination championship on Thursday, March 15 at 9:15 p.m. They will play Hope International University.
The tournament will run through March 20. Coined college basketball's toughest tournament, the national champion must win five games in a seven-day span.
Other Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) teams in the tournament include LSU-Alexandria, which won its game against Lewis-Clark State earlier today 77-71, and LSU-Shreveport, which is scheduled to play at 4:45 p.m. today against Harris-Stowe State. Langston University will play Pikeville on Thursday at 2:15 p.m.
The first 30 games of the national championship will be video-streamed live at www.NAIANetwork.com, the NAIA's official video-streaming platform powered by Stretch Internet. The championship final will air on ESPN3 for the fifth-straight season on Tuesday, March 20 at 7:00 p.m.