February 22, 2026
HELENA, Mont. – Rocky Mountain (Mont.) will be the No. 1 seed for the upcoming 2026 Frontier Conference Men’s Basketball Postseason Tournament next weekend. The four-day postseason tournament starts with back-to-back days of quarterfinals round on Friday (Feb. 27) and Saturday (Feb. 28), followed by the semifinals round on Sunday, March 1, and championship game on Monday, March 2.
Montana Tech is the host of the basketball postseason tournament, which will be held at Butte Civic Center in conjunction with the women’s basketball postseason conference tournament.
The Battlin’ Bears enters the postseason tournament with a 15-game winning streak with an overall record of 25-3. RMC also secured the first Frontier Conference’s automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament with 20-2 league record.
There were three ties in the standings, with Bellevue (Neb.) (22-6 overall record) and Carroll (Mont.) (19-8 overall record) tied for second place with 17-5 conference record in the standings. The No. 2 seed belong to the Bruins after sweeping the season series with the Fighting Saints (CC as No. 3 seed).
Montana Western (20-8 overall record) and Montana Tech (21-7 overall record) are tied for fourth in the standings with 15-7 conference record. Both teams split their season series, as the Bulldogs owned the tiebreaker over the Orediggers after going 1-1 record versus Bellevue this season (MT 0-2 record versus BU).
UMW is the No. 4 seed, while MT is the No. 5 team. Both teams will face each other in the first round of the postseason tournament.
Dakota State (S.D.) has locked as No. 6 seed with an overall record of 18-9 and 13-9 record in the Frontier Conference. MSU-Northern is the No. 7 seed with 16-12 overall record and 11-1 record in the league.
The final tie in the standings came down to the eighth-place team between Valley City State (N.D.), Mayville State (N.D.), and Dickinson State (N.D.) with 6-16 conference record. The tiebreaker went to the Comets with a 3-1 record within three teams together (MSU 3-1 record, VCSU 2-2 record, and DiSU 1-3 record).
Mayville State (10-19 overall record) will be the No. 8 seed. Valley City State (10-17 overall record) and Dickinson State (8-20 overall record) ended their 2025-26 season Saturday evening.
Providence (Mont.) (5-23 overall record, 5-17 Frontier Conference) and Bismarck State (N.D.) (1-27 overall record, 1-21 Frontier) also ended their season on Saturday evening.
The quarterfinals round begins on Friday evening with No. 1 seed Rocky Mountain taking No. 8 seed Mayville State at 6 p.m. (Central Time)/5 p.m. (Mountain Time), followed by No. 2 seed Bellevue facing No. 7 MSU-Northern at 8:30 p.m. (CT)/7:30 p.m. (MT).
The action continues Saturday with other two quarterfinal round games with No. 4 seed Montana Western taking on No. 5 seed Montana Tech at 6 p.m. (CT)/5 p.m. (MT), followed by No. 3 seed Carroll facing No. 6 seed Dakota State at 8:30 p.m. (CT)/7:30 p.m. (MT).
The semifinal round games are scheduled for Sunday at 6 p.m. (CT)/5 p.m. (MT) and 8:30 p.m. (CT)/7:30 p.m. (MT).
The quarterfinals and quarterfinals contests will be live stream via on Frontier Conference YouTube page. The championship game is set for Monday at 8:30 p.m. (CT)/7:30 p.m. (MT), which will be on a live broadcast through SWX Local Sports.
The second berth will be awarded to the Frontier Conference Tournament Champion. In the event the regular season champion is the tournament champion, then the second berth will be awarded to the regular season runner up.
The NAIA Men’s Basketball Selection Show will be held on Thursday, March 5, at 6 p.m. (Central Time)/5 p.m. (Mountain Time) via NAIA’s YouTube page.
The winners of the NAIA’s opening round from March 13-14 will advance to the final site at the Municipal Gymnasium in Kansas City, Mo. on March 19-24.
2026 Frontier Conference Men’s Basketball Postseason Tournament
Butte Civic Center – Butte, Mont. – hosted by Montana Tech
(Overall Record, Frontier Record) – Times in Mountain Time Zone (MT)
Quarterfinals – Friday, February 27
Game #1: No. 8 seed Mayville State (N.D.) (10-19, 6-16 Frontier) vs. No. 1 seed Rocky Mountain (Mont.) (25-3), 20-2 Frontier) – 5 p.m.
Game #2: No. 7 seed MSU-Northern (16-12, 11-11 Frontier) vs. No. 2 seed Bellevue (Neb.) (22-6, 17-5 Frontier) – 7:30 p.m.
Quarterfinals – Saturday, February 28
Game #3: No. 5 seed Montana Tech (21-7, 15-7 Frontier) vs. No. 4 seed Montana Western (20-8, 15-7 Frontier) – 5 p.m.
Game #4: No. 6 seed Dakota State (S.D.) (18-9, 13-9 Frontier) vs. No. 3 seed Carroll (Mont.) (19-8, 17-5 Frontier) – 7:30 p.m.
Semifinals – Sunday, March 1
Game #5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 3 winner – 5 p.m.
Game #6: Game 2 winner vs. Game 4 winner – 7:30 p.m.
Championship Game – Monday, March 2 (live broadcast on SWX Local Sports)
Game #7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner – 7:30 p.m.