One year after the disappointment of being left out of  the NCAA II tournament field despite sharing the MIAA regular season title, the Fort Hays State Tigers are headed to this year’s tourney. For the sixth time under head coach Mark Johnson and the 12th time overall, the Fort Hays State Tigers are in the NCAA Division II field of 64.

The Tigers (22-7) are the No. 6 seed in the Central Regional and will play MIAA tournament champion Missouri Southern in the first game of the tournament at noon Saturday in Mankato, Minnesota. The 24-5 Lions are the No. 3 seed and earned the MIAA’s automatic bid with their win over Central Oklahoma in the MIAA tournament finals Sunday.

It’s the Tigers first NCAA tournament appearance since 2011 when they lost in the second round to host Central Oklahoma.

Central Region first-round matchup…

No. 3 Missouri Southern (24-5) vs. No. 6 Fort Hays State (22-7), 12pm
No. 2 Central Missouri (24-5) vs. No. 7 Arkansas Tech (21-9), 2:30pm
No. 1 Minnesota State (29-4) vs. No. 8 Harding (Ark.) (15-14), 5pm
No. 4 Winona State (Minn.) (26-7) vs. No. 5 Northwest Missouri State (22-8), 7:30pm

The first-round will be played Saturday March 15th at the Taylor Center in Mankato, Minnesota. The second-round is on Sunday March 16th with the regional finals on Tuesday March 18th.

The winners of the eight regionals around the country will converge on the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. for the Elite Eight March 26-29.