NAIA MEN'S BASKETBALL NATIONAL TOURNAMENT
Santa Clarita, Calif. | The MacArthur Center
March 14 (Round of 64)
5 p.m. – (6) Montana Tech vs. (11) Southern Oregon
7:30 p.m. – (3) The Master's (Calif.) vs. (14) Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)
March 15 (Round of 32)
6 p.m. – TBD

BRACKET | TOURNAMENT CENTRAL

ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon men's basketball team's week of agony is over. Its season is not.

The Raiders (20-10 overall), who were sitting on the bubble after last Friday's tight Cascade Conference Tournament semifinal loss at top-ranked College of Idaho, received an at-large bid when the 64-team NAIA Championship bracket was revealed Thursday.

They'll head to Santa Clarita, Calif., as the No. 11 seed in the Duer Quadrant of the bracket and face No. 6 seed Montana Tech (24-6) in the Round of 64 at 5 p.m. on March 14. The Master's (Calif.) (25-5) is hosting the four-team pod as a No. 3 seed and will meet No. 14 seed Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) (20-9) at 7:30 p.m.

The winners will play their Round of 32 game at 6 p.m. on March 15. The last 16 teams standing advance to Kansas City, Mo., to play the rest of the tournament March 20-25.

SOU is in the national postseason for the 11th time in team history and the second time in three seasons under coach Matt Zosel. The Raiders last appeared in 2023 as a No. 15 seed, bowing out in the first round at Langston (Okla.).

This is the fourth season that the current tournament format – which went into effect when the NAIA's two former divisions merged into one – has been in place.

The Raiders are 1-3 all-time against Montana Tech, matching up most recently last season. The Diggers opened this season at No. 9 in the NAIA Top 25 and currently stand at No. 21. They won the Frontier Conference regular season title with a 10-5 record and prevailed in the tournament championship Tuesday night.

The Master's, ranked No. 8 in the final poll, shared the Golden State Athletic Conference regular-season title at 12-2 and lost to co-champion and No. 3-ranked Arizona Christian in the tournament title game. Dakota Wesleyan went 13-7 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference to place fifth and snag an at-large bid.

A complete tournament preview will be published next week.