CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- The UNI men's basketball team on Sunday learned that it will play the St. John's Red Storm on Friday, March 20 in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at Viejas Arena in San Diego, California. Tip time and TV broadcast information will be announced at a later time.

UNI's 2026 NCAA Tournament coverage is proudly being presented by Elite Casino Resorts.

"This is as good as it gets," said UNI head coach Ben Jacobson. "The feeling of this in experiencing the highest levels of emotion doesn't change. It's fun to be a part of our guys and spend about an hour together and being around one another. Over the next period of time we'll start talking logistics and getting organized for our trip out west and our matchup with St. John's.

The Red Storm, the Big East Conference regular season and tournament champions, enter the NCAA Tournament with a 28-6 record and 18-2 record in league play. Led by third-year head coach Rick Pitino, St. John's ranks 13th in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls. The Redstorm are making their 32nd NCAA Tournament appearance including their second in a row. 

This will be the second all-time matchup between UNI and St. John's and first since the 1948-49 season.

The winner between the 12th-seeded Panthers and fifth-seeded Red Storm will face the winner of fourth-seed Kansas and 13th-seeded Cal Baptist in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

UNI will be making its ninth trip to the NCAA Division I Tournament and first since 2016 this March. The Panthers earned the MVC's automatic qualifying berth last Sunday by virtue of winning the State Farm MVC Tournament championship for the sixth time in program, becoming the first team in league history to win the conference tournament with four victories in four days, as well as the lowest seeded team to ever win Arch Madness as the six-seed. Northern Iowa has won at least one game in each of its last three trips to the NCAA Tournament (2010, 2015, 2016).

Duke earned the top seed overall and in the East region, with the three remaining No. 1 seeds going to Arizona (West), Michigan (Midwest) and Florida (South). Connecticut, Purdue, Iowa State and Houston were selected as the two-seeds in their respective regions, with three-seeds going to Michigan State, Gonzaga, Virginia and Illinois, and four-seeds being awarded to Kansas, Arkansas, Alabama and Nebraska.

UNI enters the NCAA Tournament with a 23-12 record overall and a 11-9 mark in league play. The Panthers hold a 5-8 record all-time in NCAA Tournament games, and were previously a 12-seed during the 2009 tournament, which ended in a loss to Purdue. Northern Iowa will also face off against St. John's head coach Rick Pitino, who led Louisville against the Panthers in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament in Seattle.

A full list of UNI's Division I tournament results can be found below.

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UNI's DIVISION I TOURNAMENT RESULTS [Tournament seed]

• 1990 | [14] UNI 74, [3] Missouri 71 - First Round (Richmond, Va.)
• 1990 | [6] Minnesota 81, [14] UNI 78 - Second Round (Richmond, Va.)
• 2004 | [3] Georgia Tech 65, [14] UNI 60 - First Round (Milwaukee, Wisc.)
• 2005 | [6] Wisconsin 57, [11] UNI 52 - First Round (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
• 2006 | [7] Georgetown 54, [10] UNI UNI, 49 - First Round (Dayton, Ohio)
• 2009 | [5] Purdue 61, [12] UNI 56 - First Round (Portland, Ore.)
• 2010 | [9] UNI 69, [8] UNLV 66 - First Round (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
• 2010 | [9] UNI 69, [1] Kansas 67 - Second Round (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
• 2010 | [5] Michigan State 59, [9] UNI 52 - Sweet Sixteen (St. Louis, Mo.)
• 2015 | [5] UNI 71, [12] Wyoming 54 - First Round (Seattle, Wash.)
• 2015 | [4] Louisville 66, [5] UNI 53 - Second Round (Seattle, Wash.)
• 2016 | [11] UNI 75, [6] Texas 72 - First Round (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
• 2016 | [3] Texas A&M 92, [11] UNI 88 (2OT) - Second Round (Oklahoma City, Okla.)