It will be a busy week for officials at Drake University. Not only did the Bulldog men’s and women’s basketball teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament but the school is serving as host of first and second round games in Des Moines beginning Thursday. James Ericson is Drake’s Assistant Athletic Director of Facilities and will serve as tournament manager at Wells Fargo Arena.

Ericson says during the planning stages they prepared for a situation where staff members would be following the men’s and women’s teams out of town.

Ericson says it has not been difficult to find workers or volunteers.

Drake is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and Ericson says the conference is helping out with some staffing needs. Ericson says the transformation of Wells Fargo Arena begins Monday afternoon following an Iowa Wolves basketball game.

Kansas, Texas, Texas A@M and Illinois are four of the eight teams who will be competing in Des Moines this week. It is the third time the city has hosted the NCAA men’s tournament.

Drake will play Miami Friday in Albany, New York in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs are the 12th seed in the Midwest Region. Drake is making its sixth trip to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Missouri Valley tournament crown.

That’s Drake coach Darian DeVries. Two years ago when the Bulldogs earned an at-large bid the tournament was played in a bubble in and around Indianapolis during the pandemic.

The Bulldogs are 27-7 and have won 13 of their last 14 games.

The last time Drake made the tournament they had to sweat it out to see if they would get an at-large bid.

That’s Drake forward Garrett Sturtz. The Newton native is part of a senior class that has been a key part in the turnaround of the program.

After playing in the tournament during the pandemic Sturtz says this will be a much different experience.

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State women’s basketball team has been selected to play Toledo in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the team head coach Bill Fennelly led from 1988-95. Iowa State and Toledo will meet for the first time. The Cyclones will travel to Knoxville, Tenn. and play Saturday, March 18.

Iowa State earned the No. 5 seed and Toledo enters as the No. 12 seed. The winner will advance to play the winner of the No. 4-seed Tennessee vs. No. 13 Saint Louis game. The second round matchup will take place Monday, March 20.

ISU will play in its 21st NCAA Tournament for the 14th appearance in the last 16 NCAA Tournaments.

Iowa State is fresh off winning the Big 12 Tournament title earlier Sunday after beating the No. 1 seed Texas 61-51. The Cyclones enter the NCAA Tournament with a 22-9 season record and a 12-7 record in the Big 12.

More information including game times will be announced soon.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa women’s basketball team will be a No. 2 seed in the Seattle Regional and will host the 2022 NCAA First and Second Rounds in Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Friday, March 17 and Sunday, March 19.

Iowa earned its third two-seed bid since 2019 and the fifth time in program history. The Hawkeyes are 9-4 in the NCAA Tournament as a two seed (1993, 1996, 2019, 2022). 

The Hawkeyes (26-6; 15-3) will take on 15th-seeded SE Louisiana (21-9; 14-4) on Friday. Carver-Hawkeye Arena will also host a first-round matchup between seventh-seeded Florida State and 10th-seeded Georgia on Friday. The winner of the first-round games will meet on Sunday. Game times and TV designation will be released at a separate time. 

Fans are encouraged to buy tickets online at hawkeyesports.com/tickets. All session pricing begins at $30 for adults, $14 for seniors (50 and above), and $14 youth (18 and under).

Tickets will be available for purchase on March 13 at 9 a.m. (CT). As a reminder, tickets are all digital for the tournament so download the hawkeyesports app.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – For the 22^nd time in school history, the Iowa State men’s basketball team has earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones have reached nine NCAA Tournaments since 20212, one of 10 teams in the field this year to do so.

Iowa State (19-13, 9-9 Big 12) earned a No. 6 seed in the Midwest Region and will face the winner of a First Four game on Friday, March 17, in Greensboro, N.C. No. 11 seeds Mississippi State (21-12, 8-10 SEC) and Pittsburgh (22-11, 14-6 ACC) will face each other Wednesday, March 15, in a First Four game in Dayton, Ohio. Game time and TV information will be announced by the NCAA later tonight.

In his second season as head coach of the team, T.J. Otzelberger is the third coach in school history to take a team to the NCAA Tournament in his first two years at the helm. Otzelberger will be making his fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, as he also led South Dakota State to the 2017 and 2018 tournaments.

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa received an at-large berth to the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, its 29th appearance in the tournament, including its seventh under head coach Fran McCaffery.

Iowa (19-13) received a No. 8 seed (seeded No. 32 overall) and will play ninth-seeded Auburn (20-12) on Thursday in Birmingham, Alabama, in the Midwest Region. Game time and television information will be released tonight. Thursday will be the first meeting all-time between the Hawkeyes and Tigers.

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl served as an assistant coach at Iowa from 1986-92 and Iowa assistant coach Matt Gatens served on Pearl’s staff at Auburn from 2017-19. 

The other two teams in Iowa’s first-weekend bracket are top-seeded Houston (31-3) and No. 16 seed Northern Kentucky (22-12).

Information on pre-tournament news conferences and open practice times will be released on Monday.

The Iowa State women won the Big 12 Tournament for the first time since 2001. The Cyclones outscored 15th ranked Texas 21-12 in the third quarter to beat the Longhorns 61-51 in Kansas City.

That’s ISU coach Bill Fennelly. The Cyclones held Texas to 24 second half points and pulled away for the win.

Ashley Joens scored 28 points and had 10 rebounds in being named the tournament most outstanding player.

The Drake Bulldogs defeated the Belmont Bruins 89-71 on Sunday to win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs won the tournament title for the first time since 2018.

Maggie Bair had 19 points, 15 rebounds, 6 blocks, and 9 assists to lead the Bulldogs. Anna Miller added 15 points and Grace Berg dropped in 14.

Drake made 18 of 19 free throws led by Katie Dinnebier’s 13 of 14 effort. The Bulldogs are headed back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. Drake improved to 22-9.

Belmont saw their 16-game win streak snapped and fell to 23-11 on the season.

Drake drew a 12-seed for the NCAA Tournament and will face 5th-seeded Louisville in their opening game. Drake will play in Austin, TX at the University of Texas’ Moody Center.