Men's Basketball | 3/7/2024 7:17:00 PM
CALDWELL, Idaho – The NAIA has officially announced the 64-team field and pairings for the 2024 NAIA Men's Basketball Championship. The tournament will begin with the First and Second Rounds presented by Ballogy on Friday, Mar. 15.
The College of Idaho will be the No. 1 seed in the Liston Quadrant and host a first/second round pod in Caldwell at the J.A. Albertson Activity Center. The Yotes first round matchup will be against Jessup (Calif.), who received an at-large bid and will take place at 7 p.m.
College of Idaho has made 26 national tournament appearances, including national titles in 2022-23 and 1995-96. Twenty-six appearances by the Yotes is the second most in the field.
The Yotes and Jessup have faced one another on three occasions as College of Idaho holds a 2-1 advantage in the series. The two played against one another during the COVID pandemic for back-to-back meetings in 2021.
The other first-round matchup in Caldwell will be the No. 8 seed Cornerstone (Mich.) and No. 9 seed Carroll (Mont.). The contest between the two teams will tip off at 5 p.m. on Friday, Mar. 15. The Yotes have faced Cornerstone just once. That appearance came in the NAIA National Tournament Second Round in 2019, with College of Idaho winning by an 86-82 margin in overtime. Carroll is a familiar opponent for College of Idaho as the two teams have played against one another on 33 occasions, including in the postseason in 1955, 1965, and 1966. Carroll holds a slight 17-16 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1927.
Ticket prices for each day are $20 for reserved (sales end Mar. 15 at 9 p.m. MT), $15 for general admission (ages 18-59), $12 for seniors general admission (ages 60+), and $8 for students (ages 6-17). Fans can visit www.yoteathletics.com to purchase their tickets.
