The NAIA National Championship is organized into eight pods of five teams each, and the entire event – from the First and Second Rounds through the National Championship match – is single elimination. Each pod is split across two host sites:

• Site A: the No. 1 seed in the pod (a national seed) hosts the 4–5 pod seeds in the First Round (Thursday) and faces the winner in the Second Round (Saturday).
• Site B: the No. 2 seed in the pod (also nationally seeded) hosts the No. 3 seed in the Second Round (Saturday).

The winners of each Site A and Site B meet in Pensacola, Fla., in the Round of 16, which marks the beginning of the championship's final site.

From there, the winners of the Round of 16 matches advance as the last surviving team from their respective pods, moving on to the national quarterfinal field. There, pod winners compete for a spot in the national semifinals and, ultimately, the NAIA National Championship Final – all staged at the Ashton Brosnaham Athletic Park.