Things are beginning to come into focus for the first round match-ups in the 2018 Summit League Basketball Championships.

In the women's bracket, regular season champ South Dakota (14-0) is the number-one seed and will play the number-eight seed, Fort Wayne, in the opening game of the Saturday, March 3 afternoon session (12:00 PM) at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.

South Dakota State (12-2) is the number two seed. The Jackrabbits will play the number-seven seed in the second game (2:30 PM) of the March 3 afternoon session.

Defending regular season and tournament champ Western Illinois (9-4) has wrapped up the number-three seed. The Leathernecks will play the fourth seed in the second game (2:30 PM) of the Sunday, March 4 session.

Their opponent will either be Denver or Oral Roberts. If the Pioneers (7-6) win at home against Western Illinois, Saturday (February 24), they clinch the four. A Denver loss drops them into a tie with the Golden Eagles. DU and ORU split during the regular season and would need to go all the way to best RPI to break the tie. Currently Denver's RPI is 168, Oral Roberts' is 180.

Saturday's regular season finale winner between Omaha and North Dakota State will secure the sixth seed.

As for the seventh seed, the UNO - NDSU loser gets it, even if Fort Wayne upsets South Dakota State to finish with an identical 2-12 record. Both the Mavericks and Bison win a tiebreaker with the Mastodons.

On the men's side, regular season champ South Dakota State (12-1) has clinched the top seed and will play the eighth seed in the opening game of the Saturday, March 3 evening session (6:00 PM) at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.

South Dakota (11-3) is the number two seed. The Coyotes will play the number-seven seed in the second game (8:30 PM) of the March 2 evening session.

As for the number-three and number-four seeds, Fort Wayne and Denver are both 7-6 heading into the final game of the regular season. The Mastodons host South Dakota State, Saturday (February 24), while the Pioneers play at Western Illinois.

Should they finish with identical records, Fort Wayne holds the tiebreaker over Denver by virtue of two head-to-head wins.

The winner of Saturday's North Dakota State - Omaha game will move into a tie for fifth with Oral Roberts (5-9). The Golden Eagles would claim the number-five seed over the Mavericks after sweeping the season series. The Bison, who split with Oral Roberts during the regular season, would win a tiebreaker with the Golden Eagles by virtue of a regular season victory over number-two seed South Dakota.

The NDSU - UNO loser would be the number-seven seed if Western Illinois also loses to Denver, Saturday.

If the Leathernecks win and finish tied with Omaha, WIU gets the seven seed after sweeping the Mavericks during the regular season. NDSU wins a tiebreaker with Western Illinois thanks to their victory at USD.


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