KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The MIAA Game of the Week on The Spot, Kansas City 38 will return for the upcoming NCAA Division II men's and women's basketball seasons. Thanks to Scripps News and its independent television station, KMCI, basketball fans within the Kansas City metro viewing area will once again have the opportunity to watch the best of MIAA Nation live on their televisions.

Mules and Jennies Basketball will each be featured  once during the 2026-27 season. The Mules' home game inside the Jerry M. Hughes Athletics Center on Saturday, Jan. 9, against the Rogers State Hillcats at 1 p.m., and the Jennies' road game at Pittsburg State in Pittsburg, Kan., on Saturday, Jan. 16, at 1:30 p.m. will both air live on The Spot, Kansas City 38. 

Serving the Kansas City metropolitan area, the Spot, Kansas City 38 will broadcast nine different MIAA Basketball Games of the Week to local television audiences in the greater Kansas City area. The nine-week schedule will include five men's games, four women's games, and take viewers to eight different MIAA campuses throughout Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. The men's five-game schedule will feature a new team in each MIAA matchup (ten teams total), while the women's four-game schedule features seven of the league's top teams.
 
BROADCAST SCHEDULE:
January 2 (1:30 PM) – Washburn @ Emporia State (women)
January 9 (1:00 PM) – Rogers State @ [RV] Central Missouri (men)
January 16 (1:30 PM) – [RV] Central Missouri @ Pittsburg State (women)
January 23 (1:00 PM) – Central Oklahoma @ Newman (men)
January 30 (1:00 PM) – Emporia State @ [16] Fort Hays State (women)
February 6 (1:30 PM) – [3] Washburn @ Northeastern State (men)
February 13 (1:30 PM) – Northwest Missouri @ Missouri Western (women)
February 20 (1:30 PM) – Arkansas-Fort Smith @ Emporia State (men)
February 27 (1:30 PM) – Fort Hays State @ Northwest Missouri (men)
Times Subject to Change. Please double-check the home team's athletic website. 
[#] – Final NCAA Division II National Ranking in 2025-26 Season
 
All MIAA men's and women's basketball contests will continue to be streamed live on The MIAA Network, the official digital streaming platform of the MIAA.

First broadcasting in 1988, KMCI/the Spot, Kansas City 38 is the only independent station under the Scripps News Group. Scripps News is a dynamic team of journalists, all working together to bring you on-the-ground reporting that puts facts and people first.

"We're very excited to enter our third year featuring a MIAA Women's or Men's TV Game of the Week on the Spot, Kansas City 38," said MIAA Commissioner Mike Racy. " The Kansas City metro area continues to be a great platform for college sports television, which helps the MIAA office reach new audiences to showcase some of the best small college basketball programs in the country. We also know that this additional basketball exposure will help drive new patrons to The MIAA Network.

The first official games of the 2026-27 NCAA Division II men's and women's basketball seasons begin on November 9, but teams selected to play in designated showcases will play their first games as early as October 30. The first MIAA Basketball Game of the Week is set for January 2, with Emporia State women hosting the defending MIAA tournament champion, the Washburn Ichabods in Emporia, Kansas. 

The MIAA tips off the 2026-27 basketball season next Tuesday, October 6, with its annual Basketball Media Day at the College Basketball Experience in downtown Kansas City. The invite-only event features press conferences with the head men's and women's coaches from every MIAA team. Basketball fans can watch the action live, for free, on The MIAA Network.
 

Cable/Satellite Provider for KMCI-TV	Standard Tier Channel	Digital Tier Channel
Spectrum (Kansas City Metro)	Channel No. 8	Channel No. 1230
Comcast (Independence, MO)	Channel No. 5	Channel No. 807
Comcast (Olathe, KS)	Channel No. 5	Channel No. 807
Dish Network (Kansas City DMA)	Channel No. 38	N/A
Direct TV (Kansas City DMA)	Channel No. 38	N/A
AT&T U-Verse (Kansas City DMA)	Channel No. 38	N/A
Midco (Lawrence, KS)	Channel No. 15	Channel No. 615
Optimum (St. Joseph, MO)	Channel No. 17	N/A
Optimum (Maryville, MO)	Channel No. 19	N/A
Optimum (Warrensburg, MO)	Channel No. 13	N/A
Over-The-Air	Channel No. 38.1	N/A

ABOUT THE SPOT, KANSAS CITY 38:
KMCI-TV, also known as "the Spot, Kansas City 38" is an Emmy-award winning TV station, which has quickly emerged as the hot "Spot" for unique programming and local sports for Kansas City viewers. KMCI is a "pure" independent, serving Kansas City and the surrounding communities in Kansas and Missouri. In 2003, KMCI launched its new digital transmitting facility, making it Kansas City's most powerful TV station. KMCI-TV operates as a duopoly with NBC affiliate KSHB-TV.

ABOUT THE MIAA:
Established in 1912, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) is one of the NCAA's oldest and most successful athletic conferences. Over the past 114 years, MIAA teams and student-athletes have won 62 NCAA Division II team national championships and well over 400 individual national titles. With 14 full-time members across five states, the association's nationally acclaimed universities offer a balanced experience that challenges student-athletes academically, develops their athletic skills in high-level NCAA Division II competition, and enriches their overall health and well-being.