UNI men’s basketball team faces St. John’s in 1st round of NCAA Tournament
Panthers travel to San Diego to face St. John's in Friday's 1st round of 'The Big Dance'
The UNI men’s basketball team learned Sunday that they will play the St. John’s Red Storm this Friday, in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena in San Diego, California. Tip time and broadcast information will be announced at a later time. The Panthers were seeded 12th and the Red Storm was seeded 5th. Panther head coach Ben Jacobson says this is as good as it gets.
Jacobson says he didn’t mind having to wait to see UNI’s name come up as a selection sooner rather than later.
He says they’ll begin work on preparing for St. John’s right away.
The Red Storm is the Big East Conference regular season and tournament champions, and enter the NCAA Tournament with a 28-6 record and 18-2 record in league play. This will be only the second all-time matchup between UNI and St. John’s and the first since the 1948-49 season. The winner between UNI and St. John’s will face the winner of 4th-seed Kansas and 13th-seeded Cal Baptist in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers will be making their ninth trip to the NCAA Division I Tournament and its first since 2016.
