Kansas City, Mo. – (Bracket | Video Announcement | Schedule ) The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the 32 qualifiers and bracket for the 80^th annual Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship. The event will be held in Kansas City, Missouri, at historic Municipal Auditorium for the 53^rd overall time and 16^th-straight year. For tickets, go to NAIAHoops.com/tickets.

The field is comprised of 14 automatic berths, 17 at-large selections and championship host berth Mount Mercy (Iowa). Automatic qualification is given to conference regular-season champions, conference regular-season runner-up, tournament champions or tournament runner-up, depending on the league. At-large teams were determined using the final regular-season Coaches' Top 25 Poll.

The sixth ranked Cougars, who are a two seed, earned an automatic bid to the National Championships after finishing the regular season at the top of the AMC. This marks the 21^st time, and the seventh straight season, that Columbia College will compete in the national tournament. They will face Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) College on Thursday, March 16^th at 2:15 p.m.

The Cougars finished the regular season with a 26-5 overall record including a 19-5 mark in conference play. They currently rank fourth in the NAIA in 3-point field goal percentage (0.407), eighth in scoring defense per game (66.839), ninth in scoring margin (14.452), and 11^th in total blocks (122). In addition, they also rank in the top 15 in free throw percentage (0.733), defensive rebounds per game (29.226), and field goal percentage defense (0.410). The Cougars are led by Nic Reynolds who leads the team in scoring averaging 13.94 points per game and Malik Ray who is the leading rebounder bringing in an average of 7.19 boards per contest.

The Warriors, who are out of the Frontier Conference, finished the regular season with an overall record of 23-10 including an 11-7 record in conference play. They currently rank first in the NAIA in assist/turnover ratio (1.442), second in total scoring offense (2,817), third in total assists (584), and fourth in total 3-point field goals made while also ranking in the top 10 in scoring margin (14.667). The Warriors are led by Doug McDaniel who is averaging a team high 18.2 points per game and Zavon Jackson who leads the team in rebounds (7.82), assists (3.79), and steals (1.55).

The NAIA Network – the association's official video streaming home – will broadcast all 30 games live leading up to the championship final on ESPN3. The video platform, powered by Stretch Internet, allows users access to live video, statistics, and social interaction on a number of devices, including mobile. Single day passes can be purchased for $9.95, while an all-tournament package is available at $29.95. For more information and the pre-register, click here.

For more information on the 2017 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship, go to NAIAHoops.com