The MIAA Tournament champion Hope College men's basketball team is headed to Wisconsin for the NCAA Division III Championships this week.

The Flying Dutchmen (19-8) will face host University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (22-6) on Friday, March 6, at 6:50 PM Central in the first round. The NCAA announced the 64-team field on Monday.

Friday's other first-round game features Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (23-4) and Aurora University (22-5) at 4:20 p.m. Central. The winners will meet in the second round on Saturday, March 7, at 6:50 p.m. Central in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Tcket information will be announced at a later time.

Hope is 2-0 all-time against Wisconsin-La Crosse. The teams met during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

The Flying Dutchmen are making their 33rd appearance in national postseason play Hope last competed in the NCAA Tournament in 2024, reaching the second round before falling at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

The Orange and Blue advanced to this year's tournament by winning the MIAA Tournament last weekend for the third time in five years. The Flying Dutchmen went on the road to The University of Olivet and defeated third-seeded Calvin University, 73-63, in the semifinals and fourth-seeded Trine University, 72-65, in the championship game.

Hope finished runner-up in the MIAA regular-season standings with an 11-3 league record.

Sixteen sites will host four teams each for first- and second-round competition March 6-7. Second-round winners will advance to one of eight third-round sites March 13-14. Both weekends' games will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. 

The tournament then shifts to the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for the quarterfinals March 19, and semifinals March 21. 

Semifinal winners advance to the championship game, which will be staged at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on April 5.