The Prairie View A&M men’s basketball team is heading to the 2026 NCAA Tournament after winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference. In the SWAC Tourney, the Panthers defeated Alcorn State 65-56, Bethune-Cookman 71-67, Alabama A&M 74-55, and Southern 72-66 in the championship game to clinch the auto-bid.
The Panthers are 18-17 overall entering the Big Dance and on a 7-game winning streak.
Prairie View A&M NCAA Tournament Appearances
In 2026, Prairie View A&M basketball will make its 3rd appearance in the Division I NCAA Tournament.
The Panthers also reached the tourney in 1998 and 2019.
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Prairie View A&M Basketball NCAA Tournament Wins
Prairie View A&M has won one game in the Division I NCAA Tournament, defeating Lehigh in the 2026 First Four.
The Panthers have a 1-3 overall record in the Big Dance, losing to Kansas in 1998, Fairleigh Dickinson in 2019, and Florida in 2026.
Prairie View A&M Basketball Coach Byron Smith
Byron Smith is in his 11th year at Prairie View A&M and his 10th full season as the head coach.
Before Prairie View A&M, Smith was an entrepreneur, running a business that included him coaching high-performance skills and fundamentals programs in the Houston area.
In the college ranks, he spent one season (2009-10) at Texas Southern. He was also an assistant coach at Texas A&M.
Smith’s head coaching experience includes leading the highly-successful Houston Swoosh AAU program for three seasons. And before that, he was the head coach of the Harlem Globetrotters in 2002-03.
