Final Basketball Opening Round Hosts Set

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced on Tuesday the final group of hosts for the 2021 NAIA Men’s and Women’s Basketball National Championship Opening Rounds.

Lewis-Clark State in Lewiston Idaho will host both men’s and women’s events at the Lewis-Clark State Activity Center. Additionally, Thomas More in Crestview Hills, Ky., will host both genders at the Connor Convocation Center.

On the men’s side, Indiana Wesleyan in Marion, Ind., will host at the Luckey Arena while Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala., will host at the Tine W. Davis Gymnasium.

On the women’s side, Marian University in Indianapolis, Ind., will host at the PE Center while Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla., will also welcome teams to its host site at The Furnace.

The above sites will join the four previously announced sites in Alexandria, La., Omaha, Neb., Park City, Kan., and Wichita, Kan. Each of these sites are set to host both genders.

In January, the National Administrative Council (NAC) approved a basketball measure that reduced the overall field size.

The basketball move will directly affect NAIA National Championship Opening Rounds, which will change from 16, four-team tournaments per gender to eight, six-team (three-team pod) tournaments per gender.

Each opening round site will feature two, three-team “pod” tournaments (per gender) in which the No. 1 seed will receive a bye. The Nos. 2 & 3 teams will play each other on day one, and will face the No. 1 seed in that pod for the championship. The winner of that final game will go to the NAIA National Championship Final Site in either Sioux City, Iowa (women) or Kansas City, Mo. (men).

Preference was given to hosts who could accommodate both genders due to the complexity of logistics of pre-championship COVID-19 testing, which will be a part of all 2021 NAIA championships.  In 2022 the men’s and women’s championship will return to 64 team format with (16) regional opening round sites.

Below is the full list of all sites: