The 50th edition of the NAIA Men’s Championship begins Monday at Fresno Pacific. Sixteen teams are taking part at the tournament, which begins Monday with four first-round games. Here’s a look at this year’s finals …

— Fresno Pacific is hosting the National Championship for the second time. The SunBirds hosted the 1984 championship in which West Virginia Wesleyan won, 3-2, in double overtime over FPU. The SunBirds lost their Brazilian star, Pablo Campos, who signed with Swedish club GAIS Gothenburg before the start of the season. Scoring has been an issue for FPU, who take a five-game winless streak into the tournament. It has scored only 22 goals in 16 games. Daniel Spieth has 12 goals.

— Two teams earned postseason appearances as at-large teams — No. 1 Oklahoma City and No. 2 Rio Grande. Oklahoma City is trying to become just the second No. 1 seed since 2002 to win the championship – Azusa Pacific was the top seed and won in 2007. Senior defender Andy Taylor spearheads the Stars’ defense that allowed only 0.86 goals per game. Rio Grande’s RedStorm roster features 17 Englishmen.

— Playing in its 15th straight national finals, Lindsey Wilson is second in all-time wins with 35 looking up at Quincy’s 41 victories. The Blue Raiders feature players from 13 countries. South African Nathaniel Jafta should attract interest from MLS scouts. He’s been an All-PDL pick for three years with the Michigan Bucks.

— This is the first National Championship appearance for two schools: Dana and Mount Vernon Nazarene.

SCHEDULE
• Monday, December 1
Game 1: #15 Madonna (Mich.) vs. #2 Rio Grande (Ohio) — 11:30 a.m.
Game 2: Mobile (Ala.) vs. Dana (Neb.) — 2 p.m.
Game 3: #3 Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) vs. #14 Mt. Vernon Nazarene — 4:30 p.m.
Game 4: #1 Oklahoma City vs. Fresno Pacific (Calif.) — 7 p.m.
 
• Tuesday, December 2
Game 5: #7 Notre Dame (Ohio) vs. #10 Maine-Fort Kent — 11:30 a.m.
Game 6: Bethel (Tenn.) vs. #12 Southern Nazarene (Okla.) — 2 p.m.
Game 7: #11 Westmont (Calif.) vs. Baker (Kan.) — 4:30 p.m.
Game 8: Concordia (Ore.) vs. #8 Hastings (Neb.) — 7 p.m.
 
• Wednesday, December 3
Game 9: NDC/UMFK Winner vs. MU/URG Winner — 11:30 a.m.
Game 10: BU/SNU Winner vs. UM/DC Winner — 2 p.m.
Game 11: LWC/MVNU Winner vs. WC/BU Winner — 4:30 p.m.
Game 12: OCU/FPU Winner vs. CU/HC Winner — 7 p.m.
 
• Friday, December 5
Game 13: Winner of Game 10 vs. Winner of Game 12 — 5 p.m.
Game 14: Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 11 — 7:30 p.m. 
 
• Saturday, December 6 – Championship
Game 15: 6 p.m.