2025 Concordia MBB Press Guide (PDF)
SEWARD, Neb. – An unfamiliar national tournament destination awaits the Concordia University, Nebraska Men’s Basketball team. As announced on March 6, the Bulldogs were rewarded with the No. 6 seed in the Liston Quadrant and assigned to Baldwin City, Kan., home of Baker University. Concordia will take on 11th-seeded Bethel College (Kan.) in NAIA National Championship first round action on Friday. At the same site, No. 3 seed Baker will clash with No. 14 seed Texas Wesleyan University. The NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship tournament features a 64-team bracket. The final 16 teams remaining in the field advance to the final site, Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. The occasion will mark the 14th all-time national tournament appearance for the Bulldogs and fifth under Head Coach Ben Limback.
First/Second Round Info (March 14-15) | Liston Quadrant
-Host: Baker University
-Site: Collins Center (Baldwin City, Kan.)
-Tickets: https://www.bakerwildcats.com/hometown-tickets
--Cost: $10 for adults, $5 for ages 12-18; $5 for senior citizens/military veterans; free for ages 12 and under.
-Live Streaming Link: https://www.heartconferencenetwork.com/baker/
-Live Stats: Presto Stats | StatBroadcast
-Radio Coverage: 104.9 Max Country (Parker Cyza)
Game Schedule
2025 NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Bracket (PDF)
Friday, March 14: (6) Concordia (25-6) vs. (11) Bethel (22-9), 5 p.m.
Friday, March 14: (3) Baker (28-3) vs. (14) Texas Wesleyan (19-10), 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 15: First round winners, 6 p.m. CT
(winner advances to the final site)
By the numbers
· The 2025 trip to nationals will mark the 14th all-time appearance on the national stage for the program. Head Coach Ben Limback has now led the Bulldogs to five national tournament trips (2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025). In the school’s first nine appearances, all presided over by former head coach Grant Schmidt, the Bulldogs went a combined 11-9. Limback played for the national qualifying teams of 1996, 1997 and 1998. This marks the fourth time in program history that Concordia has earned an at-large bid (1996, 2023, 2024 and 2025). The 2020 and 2022 appearances both came on the heels of GPAC tournament titles. Limback owns a national tournament record of 4-4 (program is 15-13 all-time on the national stage).
· Concordia has won its first-round game at the national tournament seven times. Two teams in program history have reached at least the semifinals: the 1991-92 squad and the 2004-05 team (national runner up). The 1994-95, 2002-03 and 2021-22 squads advanced to the national quarterfinals. The 2021-22 team enjoyed a dream season while led by NAIA Second Team All-American Carter Kent. The Bulldogs dominated in the first two rounds held in Omaha, where they won by scores of 96-78 over Indiana University Northwest and 90-67 over Marian University (Ind.). Concordia then advanced to the round of 16 in Kansas City, Mo., where it knocked off Indiana University Kokomo, 75-65, before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Talladega College (Ala.), 77-69. Noah Schutte was named to the 2022 NAIA National Championship All-Tournament Team.
· In the national tournament experiences since 2020, Limback has traveled his teams to Sioux Falls, S.D. (2020), Omaha, Neb. / Kansas City, Mo. (2022), Park City, Kan. (2023), Salina, Kan. (2024) and now Baldwin City. In last season’s trip to Salina, the Bulldogs advanced to the second round thanks to an 83-81 win over Indiana University Northwest. As part of the victory, Noah Schutte broke a program scoring record for a national tournament game with his 31-point outing (previous high was 29 by Darin Engelbart in 1995). Tristan Smith also put up 19 points. The next day, Concordia struggled to a 91-67 defeat at the hands of LSU Shreveport in the second round. Current graduate assistant coach Joel Baker had his career high that day with 16 points. Of the 15 players on the postseason roster, 11 have appeared in at least one national tournament game: Brad Bennett, Hayden Frank, Tyler Harre, Brooks Kissinger, Zac Kulus, Brayson Mueller, Schutte, Smith, Jaxon Stueve, Tony Tubrick and Logan Wilson.
· One day after the GPAC tournament championship game, four Bulldogs were named GPAC All-Conference selections. As a reward for one of the greatest individual seasons in program history, Tristan Smith was tabbed the GPAC Player of the Year and GPAC Defensive Player of the Year. He is just the second player in league history to earn both awards in the same season. In addition, Noah Schutte was named First Team All-GPAC for the third time in his career, Brad Bennett garnered a second team selection and Jaxon Stueve was recognized with honorable mention status. Among GPAC players, Smith ranks first in field goal percentage (.701), second in blocks (1.6), third in assists (4.2), third in rebounding (8.5), sixth in scoring average (20.7) and eighth in steals (1.5). During the 2024-25 season, Smith has pulled in seven GPAC Player of the Week awards, has been named to watch lists for the Bevo Francis (best season in small college hoops) and Trevor Hudgins Awards (best career in small college hoops), was nominated for the Dark Horse Dunker competition and was tabbed the MVP of CIT. Meanwhile, Schutte, the program’s all-time leading scorer, has pushed his career totals to 2,291 points, 928 rebounds (tied for most in program history) and 266 assists. Bennett enters the national tournament having tallied 969 career points.
· At 25-6 overall, the 2024-25 Concordia squad is the seventh edition in school history to reach 25 wins in a season. Additionally, the current Bulldogs broke a program record for conference wins in a single season with 16. Limback’s squad landed at No. 11 in the final NAIA coaches’ poll of the season and has been ranked as high as No. 9 in 2024-25. That ranking marked the highest during Limback’s head coaching tenure. Concordia owns six wins over teams that have qualified for the 2025 NAIA national tournament: Bethel, Dakota Wesleyan (twice), Dordt and Northwestern (twice). The Bulldogs also defeated a Central College (Iowa) team that qualified for the NCAA Division III tournament. Concordia sports an NAIA RPI ranking of 17th.
· While the selection committee attempts to avoid regular season rematches, such situations are sometimes unavoidable. Thus, the Bulldogs will take on Bethel for the second time this season. The host of the four-team pod, Baker, is a program Concordia has not played since Nov. 14, 1997, despite their relatively close proximity. In that 1997 matchup, the Bulldogs won by a 76-72 score behind 24 points from Josh Dahlke and 20 from Scott Schmidt. The final team in the pod, Texas Wesleyan, is a foe Concordia played during the 2022-23 season and defeated, 81-74, in Fort Worth, Texas. Noah Schutte scored 32 points in that victory.
National tournament games under Coach Limback
2024
First Round – W, 83-81 vs. Indiana Northwest
Second Round – L, 67-91 vs. LSU Shreveport
2023
First Round – L, 70-72 vs. Oklahoma Wesleyan
2022
First Round – W, 96-78 vs. Indiana Northwest
Second Round – W, 90-67 vs. Marian
Round of 16 – W, 75-65 vs. Indiana Kokomo
Quarterfinals – L, 69-77 vs. Talladega
2020
First Round – L, 84-87 vs. Ottawa (Kan.)
Baldwin City site breakdown
(3) Baker University
Overall Record: 28-3 (1st in Heart)
Location: Baldwin City, Kansas
Conference: Heart of America Athletic Conference
Head Coach: Sean Dooley (13th season)
RPI: 9th
SOS: 110th
Final NAIA Coaches’ Poll: 10th
O-PPG/FG%: 80.9 / .474
D-PPG/FG%: 65.6 / .389
All-Conference: Quentin Harvey (first team); Ty Henry (first team); Ahmed Mahgoub (first team); Noah Rigatuso (first team); Kaimen Lennox (third team); Sean Dooley (coach of the year).
(6) Concordia University
Overall Record: 25-6 (T-2nd in GPAC)
Location: Seward, Nebraska
Conference: Great Plains Athletic Conference
Head Coach: Ben Limback (12th season)
RPI: 17th
SOS: 37th
Final NAIA Coaches’ Poll: 11th
O-PPG/FG%: 87.2 / .529
D-PPG/FG%: 73.3 / .449
All-Conference: Tristan Smith (player of the year; defensive player of the year; first team); Noah Schutte (first team); Brad Bennett (second team); Jaxon Stueve (honorable mention).
(11) Bethel College
Overall Record: 22-9 (T-3rd in KCAC)
Location: North Newton, Kansas
Conference: Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference
Head Coach: Jayson Artaz (7th season)
RPI: 40th
SOS: 77th
Final NAIA Coaches’ Poll: NR
O-PPG/FG%: 80.6 / .472
D-PPG/FG%: 73.0 / .426
All-Conference: Carmelo Yakubu (first team); Harper Jonas (honorable mention); Eli Wiseman (honorable mention).
(14) Texas Wesleyan University
Overall Record: 19-10 (6th in SAC)
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Conference: Sooner Athletic Conference
Head Coach: Brian Wanamaker (1st season)
RPI: 55th
SOS: 52nd
Final NAIA Coaches’ Poll: NR
O-PPG/FG%: 74.1 / .456
D-PPG/FG%: 67.8 / .409
All-Conference: Trey Sinegal (second team); Montez Young Jr. (third team).
Final site
The 16 winners that emerge from each national tournament pod will advance to the NAIA final site: Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. Action at Municipal Auditorium will run March 20-25. NAIA men’s basketball has a long history in Kansas City with the first national tournament having taken place there in 1937. Additional information about the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship can be found via the NAIA website HERE.