TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- College basketball postseason returns to Tuscaloosa this week for the third-straight season, as Stillman College and Visit Tuscaloosa prepare to host the HBCU athletic Conference 2026 Hope Credit Union Basketball Championship at Birthright Alumni Hall, Tuesday, February 24 through Sunday, March 1.

Stillman College men's basketball enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed from the HBCUAC East Division for the second-straight season, and will receive a bye to the Thursday's quarterfinal at 6 p.m. The Stillman women are the No. 4 seed from the East and will meet Dillard University in the first round Tuesday at 7 p.m. 

All action will begin Tuesday morning at 9 a.m., when Fisk University men's basketball meets the University of Virgin Islands to begin a seven-game schedule on the first day of action. The 27-game schedule will include seven games Tuesday, six on Wednesday, four on each Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and then the two championship games on Sunday, March 1, beginning with the women at 4 p.m. and men at 7 p.m. The top two finishers in each bracket will receive an automatic bid to their respective NAIA Tournament. 

Stillman College and Visit Tuscaloosa first hosted the tournament in 2024, then the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Hope Credit Union Championship, and again in 2025 as members of the renamed HBCU Athletic Conference championship. This is the third and final year of the contract, as the championship prepares to move to Dallas, Texas for 2027-2029, the HBCUAC announced Feb. 19. 

Men's East Division champion Stillman College (18-9, 10-2) finished the regular season on an eight-game winning streak. Josh Price leads the Tigers offensively with 14.7 points per game. He is one of four averaging double figures. Second-Team All-Conference performer Dasean Sellers follows with 13.5 points per game; he ranks fifth in the conference with a 58.3 field goal percentage. Allister Dixon leads the team with 7.1 rebounds per game, which ranks fifth in the conference. He ranks second with a 66.4 field goal percentage. After receiving an automatic bid to the NAIA Tournament last season as the conference's regular season overall No. 1 seed, Stillman was pushed out of the 2025 HBCUAC Championship in the semifinals. 

Stillman Women's Basketball (11-11, 7-5) enter the tournament following an up-and-down season that included a Jan. 20 win over HBCUAC East Division top-seed Oakwood, 53-42, which began the only three-game winning streak of the season. Stillman will look to build a three-game win streak this week for a chance at a repeat NAIA Tournament appearance. Jaida Minter, who was named the HBCUAC Offensive Player of the Week on Dec. 15, leads Stillman with 12.1 points and 1.8 steals per game. She also has 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Mya Jones is second in scoring with 9.2 points per game and has 5.2 rebounds per game, while Jordan Harris leads Stillman on the glass with 6.8 rebounds per game.  

Tougaloo College (Miss.) won the HBCUAC West for the men with a 17-8 overall record and 10-2 divisional record after closing the season on a 10-2 win streak. Oakwood University is the top seed in the East for the women, and Wiley University is the No. 1 seed from the West.

Tickets and brackets can be found at https://tournaments.hbcuac.org/basketball/


TUESDAY, FEB. 24
9 a.m. - GAME 1 - Fisk vs Virgin Islands (MEN)
11 a.m. GAME 2 - Huston-Tillotson vs Voorhees (WOMEN)
1 p.m. - GAME 3 - Huston-Tillotson vs Rust (MEN)
3 p.m. - GAME 4 - Fisk vs SUNO (WOMEN)
5 p.m. - GAME 5 - Oakwood vs Wiley (MEN)
7 p.m. - GAME 6 - Stillman vs Dillard (WOMEN)
9 p.m. - GAME 7 - Wilberforce vs Paul Quinn (MEN)

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25
10 a.m. - GAME 8 - Tougaloo vs Wilberforce (WOMEN)
12 p.m. - GAME 9 - SUNO vs Winner of Game 1 Winner (MEN)
2 p.m. - GAME 10 - Rust vs Game 2 Winner (WOMEN)
4 p.m. - GAME 11 - Voorhees vs Game 3 Winner (MEN) 
6 p.m. - GAME 12 - Philander Smith vs Game 4 Winner (WOMEN)
8 p.m. - GAME 13 - Dillard vs Game 5 Winner (MEN)

THURSDAY, FEB. 26
12 p.m. - GAME 14 - Wiley vs Game 6 Winner (WOMEN)
2 p.m. - GAME 15 - Tougaloo vs Game Game 7 Winner (MEN)
4 p.m. - GAME 16 - Oakwood vs Game 8 Winner (WOMEN)
6 p.m. - GAME 17 - Stillman vs Game 9 Winner (MEN)

FRIDAY, FEB. 27
12 p.m. - GAME 18 - Talladega vs Game 12 Winner (WOMEN)
2 p.m. - GAME 19 - Talladega vs Game 13 Winner (MEN)
4 p.m. - GAME 20 - Paul Quinn vs Game 10 Winner (WOMEN)
6 p.m. - GAME 21 - Philander Smith vs Game 11 Winner (MEN)

SATURDAY, FEB. 28
2 p.m. - Game 14 Winner vs Game 19 Winner (WOMEN)
4 p.m. - Game 16 Winner vs Game 18 Winner (WOMEN)
6 p.m. - Game 15 Winner vs Game 20 Winner (MEN)
8 p.m. - Game 17 Winner vs Game 21 Winner (MEN)

SUNDAY, MARCH 1
4 p.m. - Women's Championship
7 p.m. - Men's Championship