The Heart to Send Four Teams to the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Opening Round

The Heart of America Athletic Conference will be sending four teams to the 2022 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship Opening Round on March 11-12 in sites across the country.

For the first-time, the NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship tournament will feature 64 teams. The 64 teams will play at 16 different Opening Round locations.

Then, the 2022 NAIA Opening Round winners will meet up in Kansas City, Mo. for the 84^th Annual NAIA National Championship final site at Municipal Auditorium, March 17-22.

The field consists of 38 automatic qualifiers and one host berth – given to conference regular season champions, regular season runners-up, tournament champions, or tournament runners-up, depending on the league. The number teams in each league determines the number of automatic bids in each conference. Leagues with 10 or more schools receive two automatic berths, while conferences with less than 10 institutions receive one. If a conference has 15 or more schools, they receive three automatic berths.

At-large teams were determined by the NAIA Men's Basketball National Selection Committee (NSC). The NSC consists of one representative from each geographic area, a representative from the National Administrative Council, the president of the NAIA-Men's Basketball Coaches Association and three at-large members. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria.

William Penn earned an automatic bid to the National Tournament after winning the 2022 Heart Conference Tournament and regular season crowns. The Statesmen earned a No. 1 seed and will face No. 16 Bellevue (Neb.) on March 11 on WPU's home floor in Oskaloosa, Iowa. With a win, the Statesmen would then face the winner of No. 8 IU Kokomo (Ind.) and No. 9 Dordt (Iowa).

Evangel earned the second automatic bid to the National Tournament, after finishing in second-place in the Heart regular season standings. The Valor will face Florida College on March 11 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The winner of that match up will face the winner of No. 1 Loyola (La.) and No. 16 Benedictine-Mesa (Ariz.).

Grand View advanced to the National Tournament after earning the Heart of America's host berth. The Vikings will travel to Crestview Hills, Ky., as a No. 15 seed and will face No. 2 Thomas More (Ky.) on March 11. The winner will then take on either No. 7 Stillman (Ala.) or No. 14 Mid-America Christian (Okla.).

Central Methodist earned an at-large berth to the Opening Round and is a No. 11 seed and will take on No. 6 SAGU (Texas). The winner will then face either No. 3 Montana Tech or No. 14 Mid-America Christian (Okla.).