(LEBANON, Ill., March 12)--McKendree University and Columbia College have learned their opponents in the first round of the 2008 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship. First-round games will take place on Wednesday and Thursday, March 19-20, with the tournament championship game slated for Tuesday, March 25. All 31 games will be played at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.

McKendree grabbed the No. 11 seed in the 32-team field and will meet unseeded Texas Wesleyan University on Thursday, March 20 at 12:30 p.m. Columbia will enter the tournament as an unseeded squad and will take on No. 13 seed Azusa Pacific University on Wednesday, March 19 at 2:15 p.m.

McKendree takes a 26-6 record and a seven-game win streak into national tournament play. The Bearcats won the American Midwest Conference regular-season and tournament championships in 2008. McKendree is led by 2007-08 AMC Player of the Year Eric Palm (19.3 PPG) and AMC Freshman of the Year Eric Hobbie (15 PPG, 7.6 RPG). Senior guard T.J. Stone leads NAIA Division I in three-point field goal percentage at 50.8 percent.

Columbia owns a season record of 25-8. The Cougars went 11-3 in AMC play and reached the conference tournament championship contest. Columbia is led by senior All-Conference standout Trae Hall (15.1 PPG) and honorable mention All-Conference performer Christian Lewis (8.5 PPG, 5.2 RPG).

Tournament games will be carried live this year through video streaming. Visit www.watchnaia.com for more information. You can view the complete 2008 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship bracket by clicking here.