Buffalo, N.Y. to host USCAA Basketball Small College National Championships in March of 2025 and 2026.

The United States Collegiate Athletic Association is excited to announce that the 2025 and 2026 USCAA Basketball Small College National Championships will be held in Buffalo. About 2,000 visitors are expected to spend an estimated $2.1 million as they stay in local hotels and take in the region’s offerings like professional Buffalo Sabres hockey games, the newly reopened Buffalo AKG Art Museum and the unique local culinary scene with its purveyors of the classic, original Buffalo chicken wings.

The championships, held March 8-15 of 2025 and March 1-7 of 2026, will be organized by the USCAA National Office and the Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission. The tournaments will draw an estimated 1,000 visiting fans and will include about 800 players on 36 teams representing schools from multiple states. 

“This is a big win for us to draw a tournament of this magnitude in an off-peak season. This is the first time the national championship has come to Buffalo. We are excited to provide a memorable experience for athletes and coaches after the final buzzer sounds,” said Patrick Kaler, president and CEO of Visit Buffalo Niagara, the destination marketing organization that leads the Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission. “After hosting NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball on several occasions, this is a great testament to what Buffalo can do on even a larger scale, over a longer period of time.”

Bryant & Stratton College’s Buffalo campus and Villa Maria College, both USCAA members, will also help organize the tournament. 

“We are excited to be partnering with the Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission and two member campuses to host the Basketball Small College National Championships,” said BJ Bertges, USCAA Chief Operating Officer. “The support of member institutions, the local sports commission and a destination with a rich basketball history should provide an outstanding destination for our participants and fans alike.”  

According to the USCAA, Buffalo was selected because of its reputation as a welcoming, inclusive, sports destination. It is also an affordable place to visit and is home to an array of venues for arts, culture, and music – with new waterfront parks, historic American architecture, a theater district and an array of galleries and music clubs.

Touring Broadway shows perform at Shea’s Buffalo Theatre. The food scene includes original dishes like the beef on weck sandwich. Buffalo Bandits, the championship winning professional lacrosse team, plays downtown in the same arena as the Sabres.

“The weeklong championships will give visitors time to explore our unique experiences,” said Kaler.

Most of the tournament will be held at the 2,700-seat arena SUNY Erie Community College’s Burt Flickinger Athletic Center, built for the 1993 World University Games.

Villa Maria College, home of the Vikings, will also host at its campus and athletic center in Cheektowaga, a suburb on Buffalo’s southern border. The school has newly renovated gyms, a modern weight and exercise room and a training center.

The Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission, with help from local partners, will make the USCAA Small College National Championships a memorable experience for student-athletes, coaches, and fans, said Kaler. The games are a welcome addition to local sporting options. “I love basketball. I’m a big college basketball fan,” he said. “I look forward to taking in the games.”

Getting there: Buffalo is on the New York State Thruway, Interstate-90. Travelers from Canada take the Queen Elizabeth Way highway, or QEW. The city connects to Chicago and New York City via Amtrak routes.

The Buffalo Niagara International Airport, 4200 Genesee St., is a 15-minute drive from downtown Buffalo and handles about five million passengers each year. Delta, Southwest, American, JetBlue, United and Frontier schedule about 85 daily nonstop flights from 28 airports into Buffalo. 

The USCAA, based in Pittsburgh, is a national governing body that exists to provide opportunities for small colleges to compete against like institutions for National Championships and student-athlete recognition. The 70-member association was founded in 2001 as a reformation of the National Small College Athletic Association. 

Visit Buffalo Niagara sells and markets our assets and attractions to visitors outside of the Buffalo Niagara region as a convention, tourism, and leisure destination for the economic benefit of the community.