2025–26 Summit League men's basketball season

2025–26 Summit League men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Teams9
TV partner(s)Summit League Network, CBS Sports Network
Regular season
2025–26 Summit League men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
North Dakota State 0 – 0   – 10 – 3   .769
St. Thomas 0 – 0   – 9 – 4   .692
South Dakota 0 – 0   – 7 – 6   .538
South Dakota State 0 – 0   – 7 – 6   .538
Denver 0 – 0   – 6 – 7   .462
Omaha 0 – 0   – 6 – 7   .462
North Dakota 0 – 0   – 5 – 9   .357
Oral Roberts 0 – 0   – 5 – 9   .357
Kansas City 0 – 0   – 2 – 11   .154
† 2026 Summit League tournament winner
As of December 18, 2025

The 2025–26 Summit League men's basketball season started non-conference play on November 3, 2025, and conference play will start on December 31, 2025. The regular season will end on February 28, 2026, and set up the 2026 Summit League men's basketball tournament which will take place from March 4 to 8, 2026.

This will be the last season in the conference for Denver, as the Pioneers will join the West Coast Conference on July 1, 2026.[1]

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Denver

On March 20, 2025, fourth-year coach Jeff Wulbrun and the Pioneers parted ways.[2] Then, on April 14, 2025, Tim Bergstraser was announced as the next head coach for the Pioneers.[3] Bergstraser was previously a head coach for NCAA Division II Minnesota State–Moorhead.

South Dakota State

On March 28, 2025, sixth-year coach Eric Henderson left South Dakota State for the head coaching job at Drake.[4] Then, on March 29, 2025, it was announced that Jackrabbits assistant Bryan Petersen would be the next head coach.[5]

Coaches

Team Head Coach Previous Job Years At School[a] Record at School[b] Summit League Record Summit League Titles NCAA tournaments[c] NCAA Sweet 16's
Denver Tim Bergstraser Minnesota State–Moorhead 1 0–0[d] 0–0 0 0[e] 0[f]
Kansas City Marvin Menzies Grand Canyon (Associate HC) 4 40–57 21–29 0 5 0
North Dakota Paul Sather Northern State 7 73–115 38–62 0 0 0
North Dakota State David Richman North Dakota State (Assistant) 12 208–142 107–68 3 2 0
Omaha Chris Crutchfield Oregon (Assistant) 4 45–53 24–26 1 1 0
Oral Roberts Russell Springmann Oral Roberts (Assistant) 3 19–42 8–24 0 0 0
St. Thomas John Tauer St. Thomas (Assistant) 14 290–110[g] 34–34 0 0[h] 0[i]
South Dakota Eric Peterson Utah (Assistant) 4 43–52 21–29 0 0 0
South Dakota State Bryan Petersen South Dakota State (Assistant) 1 0–0 0–0 0 0 0
  1. ^ Year at school includes 2025–26 season.
  2. ^ Overall and Summit League records are from the time at their current school and are through the end of the 2023–24 season.
  3. ^ NCAA tournament appearances are from the time at current school only.
  4. ^ 75 wins and 22 losses at the Division II level
  5. ^ 3 NCAA Division II Tournaments
  6. ^ 1 NCAA Division II Sweet 16
  7. ^ 218 wins and 50 losses at the Division III level
  8. ^ 8 NCAA Division III Tournaments
  9. ^ 4 NCAA Division III Sweet 16s, 2 NCAA Division III Final Fours, and 1 NCAA Division III National Championship

Preseason awards

The preseason Summit League men's basketball polls were released on October 7, 2025.[6]

Preseason Poll

First place votes in parenthesis

  1. St. Thomas (17) – 501
  2. Omaha (13) – 495
  3. South Dakota State (5) – 450
  4. North Dakota State – 358
  5. South Dakota (1) – 342
  6. Kansas City – 187
  7. Denver – 169
  8. North Dakota – 168
  9. Oral Roberts – 165

Preseason honors

Honor Recipient
Preseason Player of the Year Nolan Minessale, St. Thomas
Preseason All-Summit League First Team Carter Bjerke, St. Thomas
Isaac Bruns, South Dakota
Kalen Garry, South Dakota State
Nolan Minessale, St. Thomas
Tony Osburn, Omaha
Jayson Petty, Kansas City
Preseason All-Summit League Second Team Noah Feddersen, North Dakota State
Ja'Sean Glover, Omaha
Carson Johnson, Denver
Eli King, North Dakota
Markhi Strickland, North Dakota State

Regular season

Conference standings

Current as of December 13, 2025

Conference Overall
Rank Team Record Percent Record Percent Tiebreaker
1 North Dakota State 0–0 9–3 .727
2 St. Thomas 0–0 9–4 .692
3 South Dakota State 0–0 7–5 .583
4 Denver 0–0 5–6 .455
5 South Dakota 0–0 5–6 .455
6 Omaha 0–0 5–7 .417
7 Oral Roberts 0–0 4–7 .364
8 North Dakota 0–0 4–8 .333
9 Kansas City 0–0 1–9 .100

Conference matrix

  Denver Kansas City North Dakota North Dakota State Omaha Oral Roberts St. Thomas South Dakota South Dakota State
vs. Denver – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Kansas City 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. North Dakota 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. North Dakota State 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Omaha 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. Oral Roberts 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0 0–0
vs. St. Thomas 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0 0–0
vs. South Dakota 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 – 0–0
vs. South Dakota State 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 –
Total 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0

Through August 24, 2025

Players of the Week

Week[7] Player(s) of the Week School
Nov. 11[8] Jeremiah Burke Denver
Nov. 18[9] Nolan Minessale St. Thomas
Nov. 25[10] Nolan Minessale (2) St. Thomas (2)
Dec. 2[11] Isaac Bruns South Dakota
Dec. 9[12] Nolan Minessale (3) St. Thomas (3)
Dec. 16[13] Nolan Minessale (4) St. Thomas (4)

Records against other conferences

As of December 17, 2025:

Major 6 Conferences Record Major 6 Conferences Record
ACC None American 0–3
Big East 0–2 Big Ten 0–2
Big 12 0–3 SEC 0–6
Major 6 Total 0–16
Other Division I Conferences Record Other Division I Conferences Record
Atlantic 10 None ASUN 0–1
America East None Big Sky 9–13
Big South 1–0 Big West 3–6
CAA None Conference USA 2–2
Horizon League 1–0 Ivy League None
Independents None MAAC 1–1
MAC 2–0 MEAC 1–0
MVC 2–4 MWC 2–5
NEC None OVC 3–2
Patriot League 1–0 SoCon None
Southland None SWAC 1–0
Sun Belt 1–3 WAC 1–3
WCC 1–4
Other Division I Total 32–44
NCAA Division I Total 32–60
NCAA Division II Total 5–0
NCAA Division III Total 3–0
NAIA Total 13–0
NCCAA Total 3–0
Total Non-Conference Record 56–60

Record against ranked non-conference opponents

Summit League records against ranked teams (rankings from AP Poll, Summit teams in Bold):

Date Visitor Home Site Score Conference record Reference
November 3 North Dakota No. 15 Alabama Coleman Coliseum
Tuscaloosa, AL		 L 62–91 0–1 [14]
November 24 Denver No. 2 Arizona McKale Center
Tucson, AZ		 L 73–103 0–2 [15]

Points scored

Team For Against Difference
Denver 876 912 –36
Kansas City 662 816 –154
North Dakota 894 913 –19
North Dakota State 874 742 +132
Omaha 912 943 –31
Oral Roberts 836 892 –56
St. Thomas 934 855 +81
South Dakota 915 908 +7
South Dakota State 891 791 +100

Through December 12, 2025[16]

Home attendance

Team Arena Capacity Total Games Average Attendance Attendance High Total Attendance % of Capacity
Denver Hamilton Gymnasium 2,500 1 1,456 – 1,456 58.2%
Kansas City Swinney Recreation Center 1,500 2 657 789
Nov 3 vs. Evangel 		1,314 43.8%
North Dakota Betty Engelstad Sioux Center 3,300 3 1,577 1,721
Nov 11 vs. Mayville St 		4,733 47.8%
North Dakota State Scheels Center 5,460 3 932 1,068
Nov 17 vs. Southern Illinois 		2,796 17.1%
Omaha Baxter Arena 7,898 1 3,515 – 3,515 44.5%
Oral Roberts Mabee Center 10,154 2 4,467 5,467
Nov 12 vs. Tulsa 		8,934 44.0%
St. Thomas Lee and Penny Anderson Arena 5,300 2 3,991 5,325
Nov 8 vs. Army 		7,983 75.3%
South Dakota Sanford Coyote Sports Center 6,000 3 1,321 1,640
Nov 3 vs. Utah Tech 		3,963 22.0%
South Dakota State First Bank and Trust Arena 6,500 2 1,797 1,887
Nov 6 vs. Dakota St 		3,594 27.6%

Bold - Exceed capacity
As of November 17, 2025
Does not include exhibition games

National Television Games

Any games that league members will play on National Television, including the Summit League's media contract with CBS Sports Network, are listed here.[17]

Summit League members in bold

Date
Time (CT) 		Road Team Home Team Final Score Network
November 24, 2025
9:30 PM 		Denver No. 2 Arizona L 73–103 CBSSN
January 3, 2026
3 PM 		Oral Roberts North Dakota State – CBSSN
February 1, 2026
1 PM 		Kansas City St. Thomas – CBSSN
February 4, 2026
6 PM 		St. Thomas South Dakota State – CBSSN
February 7, 2026
5 PM 		South Dakota South Dakota State – CBSSN
February 14, 2026
1 PM 		North Dakota State North Dakota – CBSSN
February 15, 2026
12 PM 		Denver Omaha – CBSSN
February 25, 2026
6 PM 		Omaha South Dakota – CBSSN

Postseason

Conference tournament

All 9 teams will qualify for the 2026 Summit League men's basketball tournament. The tournament will be held at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota from March 4 to 8, 2026.

First Round
March 4
MidcoSN/SLN 		Quarterfinals
March 5 & 6
MidcoSN/SLN 		Semifinals
March 7
CBSSN 		Final
March 8
CBSSN
1  
8      
9      
   
4  
5  
   
   
2  
7  
   
   
3  
6  

References

  1. ^ "West Coast Conference Expands Footprint With Addition of the University of Denver" (Press release). West Coast Conference. October 31, 2025. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  2. ^ "Denver Athletics and Wulbrun Mutually Agree to Part Ways". denverpioneers.com. Denver Pioneers. March 20, 2025. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
  3. ^ "Denver Hires Proven Winner in Bergstraser as Men's Basketball Coach". denverpioneers.com. Denver Pioneers. April 14, 2025. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
  4. ^ "Henderson resigns to assume head role at Drake". gojacks.com. South Dakota State Jackrabbits. March 28, 2025. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
  5. ^ "Bryan Petersen selected as next SDSU Head Coach". gojacks.com. South Dakota State Jackrabbits. March 29, 2025. Retrieved August 24, 2025.
  6. ^ "Tommies Top #SummitMBB Preseason Poll For First Time". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. October 7, 2025. Retrieved October 7, 2025.
  7. ^ "2025-26 Men's Basketball Peak Performers of the Week". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  8. ^ "DU's Burke snags first Kwik Star #SummitMBB weekly honor". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. November 11, 2025. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
  9. ^ "UST's Minessale claims Kwik Star #SummitMBB weekly honor". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. November 18, 2025. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
  10. ^ "UST's Minessale garners back-to-back Kwik Star #SummitMBB weekly honors". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. November 25, 2025. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
  11. ^ "USD's Bruns claims Kwik Star #SummitMBB weekly honors". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. December 2, 2025. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  12. ^ "UST's Minessale garners third Kwik Star #SummitMBB weekly honors". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. December 9, 2025. Retrieved December 13, 2025.
  13. ^ "UST's Minessale repeats as Kwik Star #SummitMBB Peak Performer of the Week". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. December 16, 2025. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  14. ^ "North Dakota Fighting Hawks vs. Alabama Crimson Tide". ESPN. Retrieved November 16, 2025.
  15. ^ "Denver Pioneers vs. Arizona Wildcats". ESPN. Retrieved December 3, 2025.
  16. ^ "2025-2026 Men's Basketball Overall Statistics". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. Retrieved December 12, 2025.
  17. ^ "Summit League sets 2025-26 national basketball television schedule". thesummitleague.org. The Summit League. October 20, 2025. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
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