INDIANAPOLIS – Three teams from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference are headed to the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball West Region Championships this week, as the field of eight qualifiers was announced on Sunday evening.
GNAC regular-season and tournament champion Saint Martin’s earned the No. 2 seed, Alaska Anchorage picked up the No. 4 seed and Northwest Nazarene is the No. 6 seed for the regional championship. The event will take place in Hayward, Calif., on the campus of top-seed Cal State East Bay.
2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball West Region Championships
March 13-16 at Hayward, Calif.
Game times to be announced.
No. 1 seed Cal State East Bay vs. No. 8 seed Cal Poly Humboldt
No. 4 seed Alaska Anchorage vs. No. 5 seed Cal State Dominguez Hills
No. 2 seed Saint Martin’s vs. No. 7 seed Hawaii Pacific
No. 3 seed Point Loma vs. No. 6 seed Northwest Nazarene
Saint Martin’s (25-5) made history on Saturday night in Sam Carver Gym, winning the program’s first-ever GNAC Championships tournament title. The Saints went 15-3 during the regular season and captured their fourth GNAC regular-season title and third in the last five seasons. Since the league was formed in 2002, SMU will be making its fourth NCAA regional tournament appearance and holds an all-time record of 3-3 at the event. Seventh-seeded Hawaii Pacific, the first-round opponent for the Saints, went 18-11 this season including an 88-75 win over SMU on Nov. 18.
Alaska Anchorage (21-10) finished as the runner up in the regular season, going 12-6 in conference games this season. The Seawolves fell to the Saints 74-62 in Saturday’s championship game, coming up just short of their first-ever conference tournament title. UAA is no stranger to the regional championship tournament, making its 18th overall appearance and eighth since the conference was formed. The Seawolves’ won the 2008 regional title and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight. Alaska Anchorage will face the reigning NCAA Division II national runner-up in fifth-seeded Cal State Dominguez Hills, which holds a record of 21-8 this season.
Northwest Nazarene (18-10) will be making its fourth NCAA tournament appearance in the last six seasons, and holds an all-time record of 2-3 at the event. The Nighthawks tied the Seawolves for second in the regular-season standings, also posting a league record of 12-6. NNU will face third-seeded Point Loma (25-5) in the opening round of the tournament.