COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Following the conclusion of the 2025-26 regular season on Saturday afternoon, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference officially unveiled the bracket for the 2026 Men's Basketball Tournament on Saturday evening.

The Colorado State University Pueblo men's basketball team, which is making its first appearance in the RMAC Tournament since 2024, earned the No. 3 seed and will host one of four tournament quarterfinal games on Tuesday, March 3, in Massari Arena at 7 p.m. against No. 6-seeded Colorado School of Mines.

Every game of the 2026 RMAC Men's Basketball Championship tournament will be broadcast on the RMAC Network, available online at RMACNetwork.com. Single-game passes are available for $15.

Fans planning to attend games in person, including the Pack's game on Tuesday against Mines, can purchase tickets for every tournament game online at RMACSports.org/Tickets starting Sunday. CSU Pueblo students with a valid student ID will receive free admission.

The four winners of Tuesday's quarterfinal round games will advance to the semifinals on Friday, March 6, at the site of the highest remaining seeded team. The finals are scheduled for Saturday, March 7, with the winner of the tournament earning the league's automatic bid into the 2026 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championships.

Mines (16-15 overall, 12-8 RMAC) earned the No. 6 seed after finishing the regular season tied for fifth in the RMAC standings with Adams State, but the Grizzlies won the tiebreaker due to a better performance indicator, and that moved the Orediggers to the No. 6 seed. The Orediggers are the defending RMAC Tournament Champions, earning a 92-64 win over Colorado Mesa in Golden, Colo., in last year's championship game. Mines concluded the regular season winning its final two games as it picked up a 99-72 home win over Regis this past Tuesday and then concluded the regular season with a 94-91 win on Thursday at MSU Denver. Mines is looking to be the second straight program to repeat as RMAC Tournament Champions, as Fort Lewis won back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024.

CSU Pueblo (21-7 overall, 15-5 RMAC) concluded the regular season in a three-way tie with Colorado Mesa and Fort Lewis for second place in the league standings after closing the regular season with a 70-68 home win on Senior Day against Adams State thanks to junior guard Dylan Sanders' (Aurora, Colo./Pearl River CC) game-winning jumper with 1.7 seconds left. The Pack comes into just its second RMAC Tournament appearance since 2017 as one of the hottest teams in Division II men's basketball, as the ThunderWolves closed the regular season with eight consecutive wins, which is the program's longest win streak since also winning eight straight games during the 2014-15 season. The winner of the CSU Pueblo-Mines quarterfinal game will advance to the semifinal round on Friday, March 5 against the winner of the quarterfinal match-up between No. 2 seeded Colorado Mesa (19-9 overall, 15-5 RMAC) and No. 7 seeded New Mexico Highlands (13-18 overall, 11-9 RMAC), who meet on Tuesday in Grand Junction, Colo., at 7:30 p.m. Those two winners will meet in one of two semifinal games on Friday, March 5.

The ThunderWolves went a perfect 8-0 In February and has posted a 14-3 record since the beginning of the 2026 calendar year with the lone losses in the New Year coming in the final three games of a four game road trip to close January as they fell at New Mexico Highlands (82-76), at Colorado Mesa (70-66) and at Westminster (79-71). Two of the Pack's 14 wins came against Mines as the Pack won 63-54 in Pueblo on Jan. 15 and then collected a 70-63 win last Saturday in its final road game of the regular season. The two wins helped the Pack sweep the season series from the Orediggers for the first time since the 1985-86 season. In the 1985-86 season, the Pack defeated Mines, 94-68, in the quarterfinals of the 1986 RMAC Tournament that was played in Massari Arena.

CSU Pueblo is making its first tournament appearance since 2024 and its 23rd all-time appearance. In 2024, the seventh-seeded Pack fell 102-96 at No. 2-seeded Fort Lewis in the quarterfinal round. The Pack is 14-20 all-time in the RMAC Tournament and were the tournament champions in 1971-72 when they beat Adams State 79-66 in Pueblo and also won the tournament title in 1987-88 when they defeated New Mexico Highlands (91-78) in the championship game and were runners-up in 1998 when they fell 85-62 to the University of Nebraska-Kearney in the finals. The Pack has lost six straight tournament quarterfinal games since earning a 73-65 win at Colorado Mesa in 2010.

Among this year's tournament field, Fort Lewis has won six RMAC Tournament titles, including claiming back-to-back titles in 2023 and 2024. The eight teams in this year's tournament field have combined to win 12 titles, post a combined record of 128-141, and make a combined 164 appearances. 

Tuesday's game with Mines will mark the 72nd all-time meeting in the series as the Pack hold a slight 37-34 advantage in the all-time series. Before this year's two wins over Mines, the Pack had dropped 11 straight games to the Orediggers. The Pack is 21-16 in Pueblo, while Mines is 18-15 in Golden against the Pack. The Pack has met Mines one time previously in the RMAC Tournament, as the Pack won that only meeting (94-68) in 1986 in Pueblo.

Meanwhile, Mines, who fell to Dallas Baptist in the South Central Regional Tournament championship game last season and went 29-5, enters the postseason this year having won five of its eight games to close the regular season with those losses coming at Black Hills State (87-69) and at home to both UCCS (79-66) and CSU Pueblo (70-63). Since the beginning of the New Year, Mines has posted an 11-6 overall record. Mines has won three all-time tournament titles (2012, 2017, 2025) and is making its 25th all-time appearance and its 17th straight appearance.

Black Hills State, which earned the No. 1 seed in the RMAC Tournament after claiming its second regular season RMAC title on Saturday with a come-from-behind 74-65 win at home over Colorado Mesa, closed the regular season winning seven consecutive games, which began with a 112-81 win at UCCS on Feb. 7. That win over UCCS came two days after the Yellowjackets suffered a 71-53 loss in Pueblo to the ThunderWolves. BHSU, which is ranked 14th in the latest NABC/Division II Coaches' Poll, is sporting a 24-4 overall record and went 17-3 in RMAC play.  Black Hills State will open the tournament at home on Tuesday, March 3, with a quarterfinal match-up against No. 8-seeded UCCS (15-13 overall, 10-10 RMAC) at 7 p.m. in Spearfish, S.D. BHSU captured its lone RMAC tournament title in 2022 and was the runner-up in 2019.

The Yellowjackets are making their ninth straight appearance in the tournament and have posted a 9-7 record and are 6-2 all-time in quarterfinal games. UCCS, who claimed the No. 8 seed after concluding the regular season on Saturday with an 86-84 home loss to New Mexico Highlands. UCCS, which has lost two straight games heading into the postseason, is making its 15th all-time tournament appearance and took home its lone tournament title in 2015 with current Boston Celtics guard Derrick White earning Tournament MVP honors, is 6-13 all-time in the tournament and is making its third trip to the postseason in the last five seasons.

Colorado Mesa earned the No. 2 seed after its loss on Saturday at Black Hills State and is sporting a 19-9 overall record and a 15-5 mark in the league. The Mavericks tied for second in the league standings and won a tiebreaker over both CSU Pueblo and Fort Lewis as they went a combined 2-0 against those two teams to claim the No. 2 seed. The Mavericks will host seventh-seeded New Mexico Highlands (13-18 overall, 11-9 RMAC) in a quarterfinal game on March 3 at 7:30 p.m. Mesa is making its 31st all-time tournament appearance and is 28-28 all-time in the tournament and claimed back-to-back titles in 2020 and 2021 and was the runner-up to Fort Lewis in 2024. New Mexico Highlands comes into its first RMAC Tournament appearance since 2022, having lost two of its last three games to close the regular season with the lone win being an 86-84 win on Saturday at UCCS. The Cowboys, who won the RMAC tournament title in 2019 and were the tournament runner-up in 2010, are making their 15th all-time appearance in the RMAC Tournament and have posted a 6-13 record.

Fort Lewis (17-10 overall, 15-5 RMAC) earned the No. 4 seed as the Skyhawks come into the postseason having won three of its last four games, including concluding the regular season with an 83-64 win on Saturday at Colorado Christian. Fort Lewis will host a quarterfinal game on Tuesday, March 3, at 6 p.m. in Durango against fifth-seeded Adams State (18-10 overall, 12-8 RMAC). The Grizzlies wrapped the regular season on Saturday with a 70-68 loss at CSU Pueblo and enters the postseason having won eight of its last 11 games with the lone losses coming at Westminster (106-87), at home against Black Hills State (79-69) and at CSU Pueblo (70-68). ASU is returning to the RMAC Tournament for the first time since 2021 and is making its 22nd all-time tournament appearance and has posted a 7-21 record, including a 6-15 mark in quarterfinal games.

Here is the complete schedule for the 2026 RMAC Men's Basketball Tournament presented by Under Armour.

Quarterfinals – Tuesday, March 3
Game 1: #8 seed UCCS (15-13, 10-10) at #1 seed Black Hills State (24-4, 17-3), 7 p.m.
Game 2: #5 seed Adams State (18-10, 12-8) at #4 seed Fort Lewis (17-10, 15-5), 6 p.m.
Game 3: #7 seed New Mexico Highlands (13-18, 11-9) at #2 seed Colorado Mesa (19-9, 15-5), 7:30 p.m.
Game 4: #6 seed Mines (16-15, 12-8) at #3 seed CSU Pueblo (21-7, 15-5), 7 p.m.

Semifinals – Friday, March 6 (Site of the highest remaining seeded team)
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, TBA
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, TBA

Finals – Saturday, March 7
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, TBA
(Winner receives RMAC's automatic bid to the NCAA D-II Men's Basketball Tournament)