The Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC) colleges once again showed their dominance in both women's and men's NJCAA basketball. Six MCAC programs represented the conference at their respective national championship tournaments. All six teams finished in the top 8 at the 2024 NJCAA Basketball National Championship Tournaments and five of the six teams finished in the top 5 of their respective tournaments. 

In the women's tournament, a championship performance came from Minnesota West Community & Technical College.  As the top overall seed in the tournament, the Lady Jays showed why they were selected #1 by winning their college's first NJCAA Women's Basketball National Championship and first-ever national championship in any sport.  To make the victory sweeter, the Lady Jays claimed their title in a hard-fought physical battle with MCAC rival Rochester Community & Technical College, who won the championship over Minnesota West in 2023. The Lady Jays secured the championship with a 76-60 win. They also defeated #8 seed Prince George's College 90-53 and #5 seed Northland Community and Technical College 68-55 to advance to the championship game. Head coach Rosalie Hayenga-Hostikka was named the Coach of the Tournament, and Olivia Hayenga was named Most Valuable Player.  Read the full Minnesota West Athletics release here.

Rochester Community & Technical College came up short in its quest for a second straight national championship. With only six healthy players to start the championship game and finishing the game with four on the court, the Yellowjackets secured the runner-up prize while proving they were deserving of being ranked the #1 team in the nation for the majority of the 2023-24 season in the NJCAA women's basketball national polls. The Yellowjackets picked up tournament wins over #7 seed Jefferson (NY) Community College 74-54 and #6 seed Dallas College - Cedar Valley 65-48 before their loss to Minnesota West in the championship game. Read the RCTC Yellowjackets release here.

Northland Community and Technical College rebounded from their 68-55 semifinal loss to Minnesota West and proved that they are one of the top three teams in the nation. The Pioneers squared off with Dallas College - Cedar Valley in the 3rd place game and came away with a dominant win, 79-64. Northland entered the tournament as the #5 seed and played four games in four days to secure a top-3 finish. They went 3-1 through the tournament with wins over #12 seed Nassau, #4 seed Anoka-Ramsey, and #6 seed Dallas-Cedar Valley. Read the Northland Pioneers release here.

After finishing fifth in the 2023 national championships, Anoka-Ramsey Community College made another strong appearance in the 2024 tournament. Entering the tournament as the #4 seed, Anoka-Ramsey matched up with MCAC opponent Northland Community and Technical College in the quarterfinals and dropped a heartbreaker to the Pioneers 54-53. The Golden Rams would not be denied a top-5 finish and won their way through the consolation bracket to finish 5th with a 67-55 win over Onondaga. 

In the NJCAA Men's Basketball National Championship Tournament, the MCAC was well represented by Minnesota North College - Rainy River as the Region 13 automatic qualifier and Riverland Community College as an at-large selection.

Minnesota North College—Rainy River entered the championship tournament as the #6 seed and easily advanced through their opening-round matchup with Joliet Junior College, winning 70-61. The Voyageurs then dropped their quarterfinal game to Herkimer Community College 88-76 and moved to the consolation bracket. In their next game, Rainy River was defeated by the #2 seeded Northern Essex Community College 90-80 to wrap up their first NJCAA Men's Basketball National Championship Tournament experience.

Riverland Community College, making their second national championship appearance in the last three years, showed the nation that they deserved an at-large bid by defeating Prince George's College in the opening round 93-78 and then knocking off #2 seeded Northern Essex Community College 71-59. Entering the tournament as the #10 seed, the Blue Devils faced off with #3 seeded Herkimer Community College in the semifinals and narrowly lost 72-69. Playing for 3rd place, the Blue Devils dropped their second straight game with an 86-67 loss to #5 seeded Brookdale Community College and finished the tournament in 4th place.

For all results and complete highlights of the NJCAA Basketball National Championship Tournaments, visit the NJCAA website at https://www.njcaa.org/landing/index.

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About the Minnesota College Athletic Conference

The Minnesota College Athletic Conference is the organizational body for NJCAA-affiliated two-year technical and community college athletic programs in the Minnesota State system, as well as select colleges in North Dakota and Wisconsin.  The mission of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference is to advance intercollegiate athletics by providing an engaging and supportive environment for success of our student athletes and competition among member institutions.  The MCAC is committed to the guiding principles of encouraging the development and success of student athletes, promoting the integrity, honesty and loyalty to member schools as well as upholding the sustainability of conference athletic programs.