Three HBCU teams selected to the NAIA basketball tournament

It is tournament time at the NAIA level and there will be a heavy HBCU presence in the field.

Three HBCUs — Langston, Xavier and Tougaloo — all made the tournament.

The highest seed in the field is Langston, which enters as a No. 2 seed in the Duer bracket. The Lions will open the tournament against 15-seed Southern Oregon.

Coming off a 2022 season in which they finished with a 1-27 record, the Lions pulled off an all-time great turnaround finishing the regular season with a 26-2 record.

Not only did Langston claim their first Sooner Athletic Conference regular season title in school history, but they went on to win the conference title for the first time. The program is in the tournament for the first time since 2018.

The team is led by head coach Chris Wright who led Talladega to the NAIA national championship game last season.

Coming in as the No. 6 seed in the Naismith bracket is Tougaloo. They will face the No. 11-seed Texas A&M Texarkana in the first round.

Here is your tourney field for the NAIA Men’s National Championships! We will have more out tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/Ab7iLre4bU

— NAIA Hoops Report (@NAIAHoopsReport) March 3, 2023

Tougaloo had the best overall regular season record of all the HBCU teams in the tournament at 26-1.

The Bulldogs went on to win their second straight GCAC tournament championship, beating Philander Smith in the final seconds of regulation.

Tougaloo is looking to win a game in the NAIA tournament for the first time since 2011.

Rounding out the field as the eighth seed in the Naismith bracket is Xavier University. They will play nine-seed Hope International in the first round.

XULA finished the regular season with a 19-8 overall record and went on to win their second Red River Athletic Conference tournament championship in three seasons.

The Gold Rush are in the NAIA tournament for the fourth straight season.