NCAA BRACKET | SELECTION SHOW

ARDEN HILLS, Minn.—The Bethel University men's basketball team is dancing in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time since 1991 after being crowned MIAC Playoff champions Saturday night. The Royals, who earned the conference's automatic qualifier with a 79-75 win over Saint John's, will face No. 6-ranked UW-River Falls at the R.A. Karges Center in River Falls, Wis., on Friday, March 3 at 8 p.m.
 

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Novak on WCCO Radio with Mike Max
Head coach Doug Novak will be on WCCO Radio with Mix Max Monday night at 8:40 p.m. Novak and Max will talk about the Royals' MIAC regular- and post-season championship during Sports to the Max.

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This is Bethel's second-ever NCAA Playoff appearance for the men's basketball program with their only other trip coming in 1991 when they upset Gustavus Adolphus in the MIAC Championship game by a final score of 73-70 in St. Peter. The Royals then lost to Central College 77-88 in Pella, Iowa, during the opening round of the tournament.
 
BU enters the 2017 tournament with a 21-6 overall record and seven consecutive wins, including their most-recent 57-53 win over Carleton in the MIAC semifinal and 79-75 victory over Saint John's in the championship tilt. The Royals earned a share of their first-ever MIAC regular-season title with a 15-5 mark in league play and hosted their first MIAC Playoff championship after SJU upset St. Thomas and Bethel knocked off the Knights in the semifinal round.
 
UW-River Falls, who was crowned regular- and post-season champions of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC), is making its third trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Falcons enter the postseason at 24-3 on the season with a 12-2 record in conference play.