This season was the last for North Dakota as a full Big Sky member . On July 1 , 2018 , the school will join the Summit League in all sports except for football , in which it will remain a Big Sky member before joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2020 . The Fighting Hawks finished the 2016 – 17 season 22 – 10 , 14 – 4 in Big Sky play to win the Big Sky regular season championship . In the Big Sky Tournament , they defeated Portland State , Idaho , and Weber State to win the tournament championship . As a result , they received the conference 's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and the school 's first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament . As a No. 15 seed in the West region , they lost to No. 2-seeded and No. 4-ranked Arizona in the First Round
Big Sky Tournament
2017 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
2017–18 North Dakota Fighting Hawks men's basketball team