HELENA — The brackets are set for the Frontier Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments, which begin Sunday, March 2.
The three-day tournaments will take place at Pacific Steel & Recycling Arena in Great Falls with the championships scheduled for Tuesday, March 4. The women will play at 5 p.m., and the men will follow at 7:30.
The winners of the championship games receive the Frontier Conference's automatic bids to the NAIA national tournaments, which begin March 14.
On the men's side, Montana Tech is the No. 1 seed for the fourth consecutive year. The Orediggers (22-6 overall, 10-5 Frontier) defeated Providence on Saturday to secure the top seed for the tournament. The Argos (15-3, 9-6) are the second seed.
Tech and Providence will both earn first-round byes.
Sunday's first round will feature No. 4 seed Montana Western (17-12, 8-7) playing No. 5 seed Rocky Mountain (18-10, 7-8) and No. 3 seed Carroll (14-14, 9-6) playing No. 6 seed MSU-Northern (8-20, 2-13).
For the women, Rocky Mountain is the top seed after winning the outright regular-season championship for the first time since the 1987-88 season. The Battlin' Bears (19-9, 11-4) will have a first-round bye in the tournament.
Providence (20-7, 10-5) will also receive a first-round bye as the second seed.
Carroll (18-10, 10-5) is the No. 3 seed, followed by Montana Tech (18-10, 9-6), MSU-Northern (12-16, 3-12) and Montana Western (7-20, 2-13). In the first round, Carroll will play Western and Tech will play MSUN.
Frontier Conference men's and women's basketball tournaments
March 2-4 at Great Falls
Men
Sunday, March 2
No. 4 Montana Western vs. No. 5 Rocky Mountain, first round, 5 p.m.
No. 3 Carroll vs. No. 6, MSU-Northern, first round, 7 p.m.
Monday, March 3
No. 1 Montana Tech vs. lowest remaining seed, semifinal, TBD
No. 2 Providence vs. highest remaining seed, semifinal, TBD
Tuesday, March 4
Semifinal winners, championship, 7:30 p.m.
Women
Sunday, March 2
No. 4 Montana Tech vs. No. 5 MSU-Northern, first round, 1 p.m.
No. 3 Carroll vs. No. 6 Montana Western, first round, 3 p.m.
Monday, March 3
No. 1 Rocky Mountain vs. lowest remaining seed, semifinal, TBD
No. 2 Providence vs. highest remaining seed, semifinal, TBD
Tuesday, March 4
Semifinal winners, championship, 5 p.m.
