St. Thomas leads D-II Bracket

ATLANTA – After sitting atop each poll of the regular season, despite suffering their first loss of the season in the UMLC Tournament final, St. Thomas has been tapped as the top seed in the Division II bracket of the 2026 MCLA National Championships Presented by New Balance, which will be held at the River City (Richmond) Sportsplex from May 4-9.

The Tommies, who are the defending national champions, will go up against No. 16 Arkansas, the champions of the LSA. The victor in that contest will meet the winner of the No. 8-9 game featuring Florida Atlantic and UNC-Wilmington, respectively. The Owls took the SELC crown, while the Sea Hawks won the ALC.

Cal State San Marcos will be the second seed in the tournament. The Cougars, the second-ranked team in the division through most of the season, won their fifth straight SLC tournament.  Cal State San Marcos will face No. 15 Dayton who made the semifinals in the UMLC.

Grand Valley State, the champions of the UMLC, grab the No. 3 slot and earn a date with WCLL champion UC Davis on Monday, May 4. Air Force, RMLC champions, take the four feed seed, which will force a matchup with ALC runners-up Coastal Carolina.

College of Idaho, winners of the PNCLL, sit at No. 5, setting up a bout with Tampa, who finished as the runners-up in the SELC. At No. 6, Montana State, RMLC runners-up, battle No. 11 SLC runners-up UC San Diego.

PNCLL runners-up Montana land at No. 7, triggering a game with No. 10 Rhode Island in the first round.

“The selection committee had several conversations and considered many factors hoping to get this right,” said MCLA director of competition Gary Podesta. “There are teams with great resumes from all over the country and thanks to the diligent work of the committee, I think we got this right.”

Information about nationals – brackets, game times, tickets, parking, streaming, etc. – can be found on the championship section of MCLA.us.

2026 MCLA National Championships presented by New Balance

Division II Tournament Field

16.  Arkansas (10-3) v. 1.St. Thomas (12-1)

15. Dayton (6-4) v. 2. Cal State San Marcos (14-1)

14. UC Davis (8-5) v. 3. Grand Valley State (10-3)

13. Coastal Carolina (12-2)  v. 4. Air Force (9-1)

12. Tampa(9-3) v. 5. College of Idaho (14-1)

11. UC San Diego (11-4)  v. 6. Montana State (11-5)

10. Rhode Island (10-5) v. 7. Montana (12-4)

9. UNC Wilmington (13-0) v. 8. Florida Atlantic (12-5)