McNeese State’s men’s basketball team is March Madness-dancing for the third-straight season and for the second-straight as Louisiana’s sole representative in the NCAA Tournament.
First-year coach Bill Armstrong continued the run started the past two years under his longtime friend and coaching colleague Will Wade, who moved on to North Carolina State this past offseason after leading not only the Cowboys’ first-ever back-to-back Southland Conference championships and NCAA bids, but also their first-ever tournament win by upsetting Clemson, 69-67.
McNeese State (28-5) won the Southland tournament again this spring — routing regular-season champion Stephen F. Austin, 76-59, in the title game — and was announced on Selection Sunday as a No. 12 seed in its regional bracket for the third straight year.
The Cowboys, making their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance all-time, will play No. 5 Vanderbilt (26-8) on Thursday in Oklahoma City with the winner advancing to face either No. 4 Nebraska (26-6) or No. 13 Troy (22-11).
[Check below for the complete South Region bracket, as well as the top four seeds in all four brackets.]
McNeese State athletic director Heath Schroyer announced at Sunday’s watch-party for the bracket release that Armstrong has agreed to a five-year contract extension worth $1.985 million, reported by TSM Lake Charles Sports Director Chaston Tavares.
The deal is the second-largest in program history, Tavares added.
Wade will also lead a team into the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year and eighth in his 12-season career.
He steered VCU to the 2016 and 2017 events in both his year’s at the helm; LSU in 2019, 2021 and 2022 (with an NIT bid in 2018 and no postseason in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic); McNeese State in 2024 and 2025 in both his year’s at the helm; and now the Wolfpack in his first year in 2026.
North Carolina State (20-13) is a No. 11 seed in the West Region with a First Four matchup Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio, against Texas (18-14) for the opportunity to face No. 6 BYU (23-11) on Thursday in Portland, Ore.
The survivor of that trio of teams would then face either No. 3 Gonzaga (30-3) or No. 14 Kennesaw State (21-13) on Saturday.
SOUTH REGION
1. Florida
16. Prairie View vs. Lehigh
8. Clemson
9. Iowa
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5. Vanderbilt
12. McNeese State
4. Nebraska
13. Troy
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6. North Carolina
11. VCU
3. Illinois
14. Pennsylvania
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7. St. Mary’s
10. Texas A&M
2. Houston
15. Idaho
TOP FOUR SEEDS, ALL REGIONS
EAST REGION (top left)
1. Duke
2. Connecticut
3. Michigan State
4. Kansas
SOUTH REGION (bottom left)
1. Florida
2. Houston
3. Illinois
4. Nebraska
WEST REGION (top right)
1. Arizona
2. Purdue
3. Gonzaga
4. Arkansas
MIDWEST REGION (bottom right)
1. Michigan
2. Iowa State
3. Virginia
4. Alabama