𝐁𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐦 – 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐌𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 (𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟗-𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒) The trophies and titles piled up as high as the awards and accolades during the 15-year reign of head men's basketball coach Ben McCollum. The Storm Lake, Iowa, native guided the Bearcats to an elite level among NCAA Div. II teams with four national championships – including an unprecedented three-peat. McCollum posted a record of 394-91 which featured a 32-7 mark in NCAA Tournament play and a perfect 12-0 mark in Elite Eight games. He is the only five-time NABC National Coach of the Year in the history of NCAA Div. II basketball. He captured nine MIAA Coach of the Year awards. Three times he was honored as the Clarence "Big House" Gaines National Coach of the Year. McCollum led the Bearcats to 13 consecutive 20-win seasons, 10 25-win seasons and five 30-win campaigns. He guided the Bearcats to 12 MIAA regular season titles and eight MIAA Tournament championships. McCollum produced 10 MIAA Players of the Year, five MIAA Defensive Players of the Year, five MIAA Freshmen of Year, eight first-team NABC All-Americans and four NCAA Div. II National Players of the Year. After leaving Northwest, McCollum led the Drake Bulldogs to a 31-4 record, Missouri Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles and an NCAA Tournament victory over the Missouri Tigers. McCollum took over the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2025-26 and led them an Elite Eight appearance in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, which included a win over No. 1 seed Florida in the second round. #OABAAB

𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐘. #OABAAB ||| @NWBearcat_FB

Northwest Missouri State University posted a Top-25 finish in the final Learfield Directors' Cup standings. With its No. 23 finish it marks the fifth Top-25 effort from the Bearcats. Northwest was one of five MIAA schools to finish in the Top 25 in the final standings. Northwest had 11 teams reach NCAA postseason play which allowed Northwest to score 519.00 points in the scoring system. Bearcat men's sports tallied 285.00 points, while Northwest women's sports added 234.00 points. It is the second-highest point total ever accumulated by Northwest in the Learfield Directors' Cup history only behind the 569.50 points earned in the 2022-23 season. “I’m extremely proud of the performances from our student-athletes and coaches,” Director of Athletics Dr. Andy Peterson said. “Having 11 of our 16 teams reach the postseason and being able to finish among the top-25 programs in NCAA Division II athletics is a tremendous accomplishment." Overall, 15 sports are counted in the final D-II standings, four of which must be women's volleyball and basketball and men's basketball and baseball. The next highest (11 max.) sports scored for each institution regardless of gender, are used in the standings. The Learfield Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Director of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in the NCAA Championships. bit.ly/4fAGQ17 #OABAAB