KANSAS CITY, Mo. – [Bracket] The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) has officially announced the 24-team field for the 72nd Annual NAIA Men’s Tennis National Championship. The event will be held at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala., from May 14-18, for the 20th-consecutive year (the 2020 event was canceled due to COVID-19).
The field consists of 15 automatic berths, including one host berth, and nine at-large selections. Automatic qualification is mainly given to conference and unaffiliated grouping tournament champions. For the seventh consecutive year, at-large teams were determined by the NAIA Tennis National Selection Committee (NSC). The NSC consists of coaches and administrators from around the country. The committee evaluated teams throughout the year on various criteria. Mobile (Ala.) received the host berth.
Ottawa University qualified for its first trip to the NAIA National Tournament with its KCAC Tournament Runner-Up finish. The Braves have an overall record of 14-8 and finished the regular season with a mark of 8-3 to place third. Ottawa upset the no. 2 seed, Bethel College, in the KCAC Tournament semifinals to earn its trip to the NAIA National Tournament.
Georgia Gwinnett earned the top spot in 2024 and has been ranked the No. 1 team in the nation in the NAIA Men’s Tennis Coaches’ Top 25 polls for each ratings period of the 2023-24 season. The Grizzlies were the preseason No. 1 back in August and have continued to stay on-top thanks in large part to their undefeated 14-0 season. Tennessee Wesleyan checked-in at No. 2 as the only one-loss team in the field (19-0)
Georgia Gwinnett is in pursuit of its 10th-consecutive national title in 2024. The Grizzlies are a perfect 36-0 all-time in the national tournament and lead all active NAIA programs in national championship titles with nine. The team from Lawrenceville, Ga., is the lone undefeated team in the field and the only one with a national championship in its history.
The Blue Raiders of Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) have the most tournament appearances of the field with 21. Keiser (Fla.) (17), Mobile (Ala.) (16), Xavier (La.) (15), William Carey (Miss.) (13), Northwestern Ohio (11), Union (Ky.) (10) and Georgia Gwinnett (10) are the only other schools in the field with 10 or more appearances.
The Southern States Athletic Conference leads all conferences and unaffiliated groupings with the most schools in the field with four. The Sun Conference, Mid-South Conference and Appalachian Athletic Conferences have the next highest total with three.
19 of the 24 teams in the field are returning from 2023.
Three teams will be making their first appearance in the NAIA Men’s Tennis National Championship. Dillard (La.), Morningside (Iowa) and Ottawa (Kan.) will be making their first national championship appearances.
For more information on the 2024 NAIA Men’s Tennis National Championship, click HERE!
| Institution | Qualifying Method | 2023-24 Record | Last Time | Appearances | Championship Record | Titles |
| Coastal Georgia | At-Large | 8-8 | 2023 | 8 | 6-7 | 0 |
| Cumberland (Tenn.) | Mid-South Tournament Champion | 12-11 | 2023 | 9 | 6-8 | 0 |
| Cumberlands (Ky.) | At-Large | 17-6 | 2023 | 7 | 5-6 | 0 |
| Dillard (La.) | At-Large | 13-4 | N/A | 1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Georgia Gwinnett | At-Large | 14-0 | 2023 | 10 | 36-0 | 9 |
| Grace (Ind.) | Crossroads Tournament Champion | 21-5 | 2023 | 3 | 1-2 | 0 |
| Holy Cross (Ind.) | Chicagoland Tournament Champion | 12-3 | 2023 | 2 | 0-1 | 0 |
| Keiser (Fla.) | The Sun Tournament Champion | 19-2 | 2023 | 17 | 20-16 | 0 |
| Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) | At-Large | 14-5 | 2023 | 21 | 18-20 | 0 |
| McPherson (Kan.) | KCAC Tournament Champion | 16-4 | 2023 | 9 | 3-8 | 0 |
| Middle Georgia State | SSAC Tournament Champion | 15-4 | 2023 | 7 | 7-6 | 0 |
| Mobile (Ala.) | Host Berth | 17-3 | 2023 | 16 | 3-15 | 0 |
| Morningside (Iowa) | GPAC Tournament Champion | 18-4 | N/A | 1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Northwestern Ohio | WHAC Tournament Champion | 18-2 | 2023 | 11 | 11-10 | 0 |
| Oakland City (Ind.) | River States Tournament Champion | 14-6 | 2023 | 3 | 1-2 | 0 |
| Ottawa (Kan.) | KCAC Tournament Runner-Up | 14-8 | N/A | 1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Reinhardt (Ga.) | At-Large | 16-3 | 2022 | 8 | 6-7 | 0 |
| Southeastern (Fla.) | At-Large | 18-6 | 2023 | 4 | 2-3 | 0 |
| Tennessee Wesleyan | Appalachian Tournament Champion | 19-1 | 2023 | 8 | 8-7 | 0 |
| Union (Ky.) | At-Large | 12-11 | 2022 | 10 | 11-9 | 0 |
| Westcliff (Calif.) | GSAC Tournament Champion | 13-8 | 2023 | 2 | 2-1 | 0 |
| William Carey (Miss.) | At-Large | 14-2 | 2023 | 13 | 10-12 | 0 |
| William Woods (Mo.) | Unaffiliated AMC/Heart/SAC Tournament Champion | 17-5 | 2023 | 7 | 5-6 | 0 |
| Xavier (La.) | Unaffiliated CCC/GCAC/RRAC Tournament Champion | 14-10 | 2023 | 15 | 20-14 | 0 |