2026 Patriot League men's basketball tournament
| 2026 Patriot League men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 10 |
| Site | Campus sites |
| Champions | Lehigh (4th title) |
| Winning coach | Brett Reed (3rd title) |
| MVP | Nasir Whitlock (Lehigh) |
| Attendance | 14,111 (total) 4,323 (championship) |
| Television | ESPN+, CBSSN |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Navy | 17 | – | 1 | .944 | 26 | – | 8 | .765 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lehigh † | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 18 | – | 17 | .514 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Colgate | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 18 | – | 15 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boston University | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 17 | – | 17 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| American | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 16 | – | 16 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loyola | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 12 | – | 20 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lafayette | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 11 | – | 21 | .344 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bucknell | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 10 | – | 23 | .303 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Army | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 11 | – | 21 | .344 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Holy Cross | 5 | – | 13 | .278 | 11 | – | 22 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 Patriot League tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament was the conference postseason tournament for the Patriot League. The tournament was held March 3–11, 2026 at campus sites of the higher seeds.[1] The winner, Lehigh, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Seeds
All ten teams in the conference standings qualified for the tournament. The teams were seeded by record in conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.
The two tiebreakers used by the Patriot League are: 1) head-to-head record of teams with identical record 2) a comparison of records between the tied institutions starting at the highest possible seed and continuing until the tie is broken, and 3) NCAA NET Rankings available on day following the conclusion of Patriot League regular season play.[2]
| Seed | School | Conference | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Navy | 17–1 | |
| 2 | Lehigh | 11–7 | 2–0 vs. Colgate |
| 3 | Colgate | 11–7 | 0–2 vs. Lehigh |
| 4 | Boston University | 10–8 | |
| 5 | American | 9–9 | |
| 6 | Loyola | 8–10 | 1–1 vs. Lehigh |
| 7 | Lafayette | 8–10 | 0–2 vs. Lehigh |
| 8 | Bucknell | 6–12 | |
| 9 | Army | 5–13 | 2–0 vs. Lehigh |
| 10 | Holy Cross | 5–13 | 1–1 vs. Lehigh |
Schedule
| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Tuesday, March 3 | |||||
| 1 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 10 Holy Cross at No. 7 Lafayette | 82–77 | ESPN+ | 1,434 |
| 2 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 9 Army at No. 8 Bucknell | 55–65 | 606 | |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 5 | |||||
| 3 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 8 Bucknell at No. 1 Navy | 69–74 | ESPN+ | 1,209 |
| 4 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 10 Holy Cross at No. 2 Lehigh | 66–69 | 1,350 | |
| 5 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 6 Loyola at No. 3 Colgate | 77–90 | 1,133 | |
| 6 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 5 American at No. 4 Boston University | 73–75 | 651 | |
| Semifinals – Sunday, March 8 | |||||
| 7 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 3 Colgate at No. 2 Lehigh | 69–76 | CBSSN | 1,683 |
| 8 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 4 Boston University at No. 1 Navy | 73–72 | 1,722 | |
| Championship – Wednesday, March 11 | |||||
| 9 | 7:00 p.m. | No. 4 Boston University at No. 2 Lehigh | 60–74 | CBSSN | 4,323 |
| Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seeding. All games hosted by higher-seeded team. | |||||
Bracket
| First round Tuesday, March 3 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Thursday March 5 ESPN+ | Semifinals Sunday, March 8 CBSSN | Championship Wednesday, March 11 CBSSN | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Navy | 74 | |||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Bucknell | 65 | 8 | Bucknell | 69 | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | Army | 55 | 1 | Navy | 72 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Boston University | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Boston University | 75 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | American | 73 | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Boston University | 60 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Lehigh | 74 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Lehigh | 69 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Lafayette | 77 | 10 | Holy Cross | 66 | ||||||||||||||
| 10 | Holy Cross | 82 | 2 | Lehigh | 76 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Colgate | 69 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Colgate | 90 | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Loyola | 77 | |||||||||||||||||
Awards and honors
All-Tournament Team
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Nasir Whitlock | Lehigh |
| Hank Alvey | |
| Joshua Ingram | |
| Chance Gladden | Boston University |
| Ben Defty | |
| Aidan Kehoe | Navy |
MVP in bold
Source:[3]
References
- ^ "2026 PenFed Credit Union Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship". Patriot League. Retrieved February 7, 2026.
- ^ "2025-26 Men's Basketball Standings". Patriot League Standings.
- ^ "No. 2 Lehigh Defeats No. 4 Boston University in 2026 PenFed Credit Union Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship Game". Patriot League. March 12, 2026. Retrieved March 16, 2026.