MISSOULA — Even though the Montana and Montana State men's and women's basketball teams won't be playing in March Madness, Treasure State sports fans will still have plenty to cheer about.
At least eight people with strong Montana ties will be competing in the NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments. The tourneys begin with the men's First Four on Tuesday and Wednesday and the women's First Four on Wednesday and Thursday.
(Note: We did our best to find all the Montanans on teams, whether as players or coaches, in the NCAA tournaments, but it's entirely possible, even likely, that we missed some. Please report any omissions to scores@montanasports.com.)
In the women's First Four, Nebraska will play Richmond at 5 p.m. (MDT) Wednesday in a matchup of No. 11 seeds. The Cornhuskers (18-12) feature Julian Assibey and Taylor Edwards as assistant coaches. Assibey formerly coached with Tricia Binford at Montana State from 2016-20. He's been at Nebraska since 2023.
Edwards is a Great Falls native and a graduate of C.M. Russell High School. She played at Montana State Billings and helped the Yellowjackets reach the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in 2018.
Edwards graduated from MSUB in 2019 and got her coaching start at her alma mater under head coach Kevin Woodin during the 2019-20 season. She then spent 2020-23 working on Rachelle Sayers' staff at Carroll College before working as a graduate assistant at Nebraska from 2023-25. Edwards was elevated to assistant coach and assistant director of scouting and operations prior to this season.
The women's bracket also includes three players who are former Treasure State high school stars and one who began her college career at Montana State.
Breanna Williams, a two-time Montana Gatorade girls basketball player of the year while at Skyview High School in Billings, plays for Maryland; Paige Lofing, who helped Huntley Project High School win the first girls basketball state championship in program history in 2025, is a true freshman at Gonzaga; Lexi Deden, a former Missoula Sentinel High School and Montana State standout, is a graduate student-athlete at Colorado State; and Marah Dykstra, who scored the game-winning basket in the 2025 Big Sky Conference championship game to send Montana State to the NCAA tournament, is now with Michigan State.
Of those four players, Williams, a 6-foot-2 redshirt-freshman forward, is having arguably the most impactful season. She's played in 23 games for the fifth-seeded Terrapins and is averaging 4.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Maryland (23-8) will play 12th-seeded Murray State in a first-round game at 1 p.m. Friday.
The 5-9 Lofing, a guard, has played in 26 games and is averaging 2.3 points points per game. Gonzaga (24-9) is a No. 12 seed and will face fifth-seeded Ole Miss at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
PAIGE WITH THE HUGE BUCKET 🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/gWOskiW9v4
— Gonzaga Women's Basketball (@ZagWBB) January 23, 2026
Deden and Dykstra, former Montana State teammates, will meet in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Deden's Colorado State Rams (27-7), a No. 12 seed, and Dykstra's Michigan State Spartans (22-8), a No. 5 seed, will tip off at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Deden, a 6-2 forward, has played in 32 games and started four this season. She's averaging 2.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. Dykstra, meanwhile, has played in 28 games and started 10. The 6-2 senior forward is averaging 3.3 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.
On the men's side, Kelvin Sampson's exploits are well-documented. The 12th-year Houston coach got his first head coaching job at Montana Tech. He was with the Orediggers from 1980 through 1985.
After a lengthy coaching career, Sampson was named the Houston head coach in 2014. He's since turned the Cougars into one of the top programs in NCAA Division I men's basketball and led them to a runner-up finish in last year's tournament.
This year, Houston (28-6) is a No. 2 seed and will face Big Sky Conference champion and 15th-seeded Idaho at 8:10 p.m. Thursday.
And then there's Tyler Bilodeau at UCLA. The 6-9 senior forward is the son of Hysham native and Montana State hall of famer Cass Bauer-Bilodeau and the brother of Rocky Mountain College men's basketball player Jacob Bilodeau, who recently helped the Battlin' Bears advance to the Round of 16 in the NAIA national tournament.
Tyler Bilodeau played high school basketball in Washington and started his college career playing for Wayne Tinkle at Oregon State. He transferred to UCLA prior to the 2024-25 season. Bilodeau led the Bruins with 13.5 points per game last season and upped his scoring to a team-best 17.6 points per game this season.
Bilodeau injured his knee during the Big Ten Conference tournament, but reports indicate he expects to return for the NCAA tournament. The Bruins (23-11) received a No. 7 seed and will play 10th-seeded Central Florida at 5:25 p.m. Friday.
