NJCAA Region 6 Division 1 Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket   |   Tournament Website

COLBY, Kan. – With matching 17-7 conference records to finish the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Division 1 Men’s Basketball regular season, Barton Community College and Butler Community College have each earned a share of the KJCCC D1 regular season crown, with the Cougars earning the number one seed in the upcoming 2026 NJCAA Region 6 Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The regular season title for Barton is the second in the past three seasons after winning the 2024 crown on their way to the NJCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball National Title while the Grizzlies have won their first KJCCC regular season title since 2015 under second-year head coach Eric Nitsche. Barton swept Butler in both regular-season contests to win the tiebreaker, with the Grizzlies earning the number two seed in the Region 6 Tournament.  

Finishing one game back of the Cougars and Grizzlies, Dodge City will be the three seed after finishing the 24-conference game slate with a 16-8 record while winning five of their final six games of the season. Coffeyville also finished in the top four of the conference to earn a first-round bye in the NJCAA Region 6 Plains District Tournament, capping off the regular season with a road win at Garden City to go 15-9 in conference play. All four teams with first-round byes will host quarterfinal round matchups on their home courts, with their first games of the tournament coming on Tuesday, March 10th.

Other teams to earn home playoff games in the 2026 NJCAA Region 6 Division 1 Tournament are number five seed Seward County, number six seed Cowley, number seven seed Independence, and number eight seed Cloud County. Opening round action will begin on Saturday, March 7th, with the Saints hosting Colby, Cowley hosting Hutchinson, Independence hosting Fort Hays Tech Northwest, and Cloud County playing host to Garden City.

Quarterfinal round matchups will be announced following the conclusion of Saturday’s opening round games, with all four games slated to tip off at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, March 10th on campus sites ahead of the semifinals and finals. Barton Community College and Fleske Fieldhouse are scheduled to host the semifinals and finals March 13-14, with the first semifinal taking place at 3 PM while the second semifinal will close out the first day of action at 7:30 PM on Friday night. The 2026 NJCAA Region 6 Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship game will take place the following day on Saturday, March 14th at 5 PM between the two semifinal winners.

The winner of the 2026 NJCAA Region 6 Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament will receive an automatic bid into the 2026 NJCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball National Tournament, with play scheduled for March 21-28 inside the Hutchinson Sports Arena in Hutchinson, KS.