You know all about the Power 5 conferences in college basketball. You hear about those more than any other, and those groups often dominate the March Madness conversation. There are 26 other conferences out there, however, and our goal is to get you up to speed on the teams, players and fights in the standings to know before the conference tournaments, Selection Sunday and the official start of March Madness.
It’s time for you to get to know a mid-major: this time, it’s the Summit League.
“The Summit” is a midwestern-centered conference with nine teams, formed in 1982 — right around when the NCAA became the sponsor of women’s college basketball. None of the original conference members remain, however, so the present-day Summit, 32 schools later, is vastly different than it was at its inception. And will be different again a year from now, when Denver heads to the West Coast Conference for the 2026-2027 season, leaving the Summit with eight members.
In the present, though, all nine teams make it to the conference basketball tournaments, with the 8- and 9-seeds facing off in a first-round matchup to get the field down to an even eight. The winner of that game takes on the top seed, while No. 2 faces No. 7, and then the other half of the quarterfinals pits four vs. five and three vs. six.
The automatic bid for the conference champion is likely the only way into March Madness for men’s basketball, as that’s how it has been the last three years, and none of the teams are playing well enough to change that in 2026. Women’s basketball, though… well, it’s an open question, at least.
Leaders:
- Points Per Game: Carson Johnson, Denver, 20.2
- Rebounds Per Game: Cameron Fens, South Dakota, 8.6
- Assists Per Game: Andy Stefonowicz, North Dakota State, 4.8
- Steals Per Game: Eli King, North Dakota, 2.2
- Blocks Per Game: Cameron Fens, South Dakota, 1.5
The Summit League males’s match area is already set, and can start play on March 4. Oral Roberts (8-seed) will face Kansas Metropolis (9) within the opening spherical, with the winner taking over top-seeded North Dakota State on March 5. North Dakota State (7) will face St. Thomas (2) on the identical day, with South Dakota (4) vs. Omaha (5) the subsequent day, in addition to North Dakota (3) towards Denver (6).
North Dakota State was nicely forward of the pack this season, going 14-2, two video games forward of second-place St. Thomas, 4 video games up on North Dakota and 6 forward of South Dakota, Denver and Omaha, which all tied for fourth. The Bison aren’t invulnerable, nonetheless: Denver beat them, 78-71, a month in the past, and St. Thomas did so with authority on Feb. 26, 84-62. The primary assembly between the 2 was a lot nearer, with the Tommies shedding, 68-65: a 1-point loss to North Dakota, a 98-94 defeat towards Omaha and an 82-80 loss to Denver have been the Tommies’ different Ls.
St. Tommies completed in second within the Summit League common season, however might very nicely be convention champion. (Picture by Steven Garcia/Getty Photos)
Briefly, the standings current some clear favorites, however the actuality is that even the very best groups within the convention are able to shedding to those in the course of the standings. Whereas a lot of the convention is within the bottom-150 groups within the league per the NCAA Analysis Software’s accounting, it’s not as if North Dakota State and St. Thomas are to date forward that it’s clear it is going to be these two dealing with off within the match finals, both. St. Thomas is 106th in NET and 104th in Wins Above Bubble, whereas North Dakota State is 117th and 98th — neither determine means that there shall be an at-large bid coming.
St. Thomas is powered by a top-100 (unadjusted) offense, based on KenPom’s Offensive Ranking, because it scores 114.7 factors per 100 possessions. The difficulty is that it permits 108.5, placing it 148th in Defensive Ranking and leading to an unadjusted 6.22 Internet Ranking. That’s higher than North Dakota State, nonetheless, which has roughly the identical protection (108.3 factors per 100 possessions, 145th) however with an offense that lags behind the Tommies, at 112.9 and 117th. Admittedly, these variations are slight, however since neither is especially dominant it additionally opens them as much as defeat. Denver, as an illustration, has one of many worst defenses within the league. Not the Summit League, both, however Division I basketball. Nonetheless, it additionally ranks 67th in Offensive Ranking, which means if it does play serviceable protection and the offense is cooking, both of the Bisons or Tommies might go down.
Leaders:
- Points Per Game: Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State, 22.1 (10th in D-I)
- Rebounds Per Game: Avril Smith, Omaha, 11.5 (9th in D-I)
- Assists Per Game: Jade Hood, St. Thomas/Mackenzie Hughes, North Dakota, 3.5
- Steals Per Game: Alyssa Sand, St. Thomas, 2.3
- Blocks Per Game: Avril Smith, Omaha, 2.2
The ladies’s Summit League standings and match seeding are additionally set: Omaha (8) faces North Dakota (9) on day one, March 4, then the match resumes March 5 with South Dakota (2) dealing with Kansas Metropolis (7) and North Dakota State (1) towards the winner of Omaha-North Dakota. Oral Roberts (4) takes on St. Thomas (5) on the second day of the quarterfinals, then South Dakota (3) faces Denver (6).
In contrast to with the boys’s Summit League, there are two genuinely tournament-worthy groups within the Summit. Nonetheless, due to the truth that one of many two will lose a recreation within the Summit League match, which may not lead to an at-large bid. South Dakota State (24-6) is forty third in NET and forty sixth in WAB, whereas North Dakota State (24-3) ranks forty fifth and fiftieth. That’s two top-50 groups in each NET and WAB, however once more, there is likely to be only one when Summit League play is actually over.
It’s not tough to see why it’s these two groups standing to date forward of the remaining — the next-best workforce within the Summit by NET is South Dakota, at 114, and the one different top-200 one is Oral Roberts at 184. The distinction is that every has a participant driving them to a doable March Insanity berth to a level that outshines what anybody else within the Summit League is doing, in addition to a lot of the remainder of Division I. South Dakota State senior ahead Brooklyn Meyer is the Summit’s main scorer at 22.1 factors per recreation, however she additionally has a Participant Effectivity Ranking of 46.0, which places her second in Division I behind UConn’s Sarah Sturdy. Proper behind her, in each the Summit PER rankings in addition to D-I’s, is North Dakota State junior ahead Avery Koenen, at 45.6. Simply two different gamers — Iowa State’s Audi Crooks and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo — have a PER over 40.
Brooklyn Meyer and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits upset No. 7 Oklahoma State within the first spherical of the 2025 NCAA Girls’s Basketball Event. (Picture by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Photos)
Meyer has the highest Plus/Minus within the Summit; Koenen is second. Koenen has the very best Offensive Ranking (136.4) and Defensive Ranking (77.2) within the convention; Meyer is second and fifth. Koenen is second within the Summit in rebounds per recreation; Meyer is third. As stated, Meyer leads the convention in scoring — Koenen is in third, at 19.2 factors.
Meyer leads in taking pictures proportion (65.3%), and is averaging 7.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.8 blocks per recreation. Koenen is behind in factors, however has 11 rebounds per, with 2.3 assists and over a steal and block every per recreation. Each gamers can change the path of a Summit League recreation on their very own, and chances are high good the 2 are going to conflict within the convention finals. It’s doable — not going, however doable — that each groups find yourself making it to March Insanity if that occurs and the championship recreation is an in depth, spectacular affair for each groups, but when there may be any one-sidedness to it in any respect, then it’s unlikely the human aspect of the Choice Committee goes to miss what WAB can not.
North Dakota State’s lone loss in convention play? That got here towards South Dakota State on Feb. 25, 59-54. The Jackrabbits misplaced to North Dakota State again on Jan. 17 within the first matchup between the 2, 76-68, after which to South Dakota to shut out January. Since then? Seven-straight wins, together with night up the season collection with the Bison.
