Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers

The Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers represent one of the oldest Catholic universities in the country, tucked into the foothills outside Emmitsburg, Maryland. They play their home games at Knott Arena as members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, competing for a small liberal-arts school that punches above its weight in March. The Mountaineers have built a reputation as a mid-major that can crash the NCAA Tournament bracket when it matters most, most memorably via the First Four. It's scrappy, small-school basketball with a genuine shot at a headline upset every winter.

Mount St. Mary's basketball dates back to the school's early 20th-century athletic program and won an NCAA College Division national title in 1962, a high point from the program's small-college era. The Mountaineers moved up to NCAA Division I in the late 1980s and have since made multiple NCAA Tournament trips, including First Four appearances in 2017 and 2025. Their run has produced three tournament wins, most memorably knocking out New Orleans and American University in play-in games. The program has long been a staple of the Northeast small-college and mid-major scene.