Year: | 2018 |
Division: | III |
Teams: | 64 |
Finalfourcity: | Salem Civic Center Salem, Virginia |
Champions: | Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves |
Titlecount: | 1st |
Runnerup: | Wisconsin–Oshkosh Titans |
Gamecount: | 1st |
Semifinal1: | Ramapo Roadrunners |
Finalfourcount: | 2nd |
Semifinal2: | Springfield Pride |
Finalfourcount2: | 1st |
Coach: | Dale Wellman |
Coachcount: | 1st |
Mvp: | Cooper Cook |
Mvpteam: | Nebraska Wesleyan |
The 2018 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament was the 44th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division III college basketball in the United States. Featuring sixty-four teams, it began on March 2, 2018, following the 2017–18 season, and concluded with the championship game on March 17, 2018.
Once again, the national semifinal and championship rounds were held at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia.
Nebraska Wesleyan defeated Wisconsin–Oshkosh in the final, 78–72, to win their first national title. Cooper Cook was voted the MVP.
The following 43 teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2018 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's automatic bid (except for the UAA, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).[1]
Automatic bids | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conference | Team | Record (Conf.) | Appearance | Last bid | |||
Allegheny Mountain | La Roche | 21–6 (16–2) | 2nd | 2011 | |||
American Southwest | Sul Ross State | 22–6 (14–3) | 2nd | 2004 | |||
Capital | York (PA) | 23–4 (14–4) | 5th | 2012 | |||
Centennial | Johns Hopkins | 23–4 (15–3) | 11th | 2015 | |||
CUNYAC | Staten Island | 17–11 (12–4) | 13th | 2017 | |||
CCIW | Augustana (IL) | 22–5 (12–4) | 17th | 2017 | |||
Colonial States | Cabrini | 24–3 (16–2) | 14th | 2017 | |||
Commonwealth Coast | Nichols | 25–3 (16–2) | 2nd | 2017 | |||
Empire 8 | Nazareth | 20–7 (13–3) | 8th | 2010 | |||
Great Northeast | Johnson & Wales (RI) | 19–9 (13–3) | 4th | 2016 | |||
Heartland | Hanover | 22–6 (14–4) | 8th | 2017 | |||
Iowa | Nebraska Wesleyan | 24–3 (13–3) | 15th | 2001 | |||
Landmark | Moravian | 20–7 (10–4) | 3rd | 2008 | |||
Liberty | Union (NY) | 18–8 (12–6) | 5th | 2017 | |||
Little East | Eastern Connecticut | 25–3 (13–1) | 8th | 2017 | |||
MAC Commonwealth | Lebanon Valley | 18–9 (10–6) | 7th | 2005 | |||
MAC Freedom | Misericordia | 17–10 (10–4) | 4th | 2017 | |||
MASCAC | Bridgewater State | 18–9 (9–3) | 8th | 2014 | |||
Michigan | Hope | 18–9 (10–4) | 27th | 2017 | |||
Midwest | Monmouth (IL) | 20–7 (15–3) | 5th | 1990 | |||
Minnesota | Augsburg | 21–7 (13–7) | 4th | 1999 | |||
NECC | Southern Vermont | 22–5 (12–2) | 3rd | 2016 | |||
NESCAC | Williams | 22–5 (7–3) | 16th | 2017 | |||
NEWMAC | MIT | 22–5 (10–4) | 8th | 2017 | |||
New Jersey | Ramapo | 21–6 (15–3) | 8th | 2017 | |||
North Atlantic | New England College | 21–6 (15–3) | 1st | Never | |||
North Coast | Wittenberg | 26–2 (16–2) | 28th | 2014 | |||
NEAC | Lancaster Bible | 23–5 (15–1) | 2nd | 2016 | |||
Northern Athletics | Aurora | 19–8 (16–4) | 10th | 2013 | |||
Northwest | Whitworth | 24–3 (14–2) | 13th | 2017 | |||
Ohio | John Carroll | 23–5 (14–4) | 15th | 2016 | |||
Old Dominion | Emory and Henry | 22–6 (11–5) | 6th | 1993 | |||
Presidents' | Thomas More | 23–5 (16–2) | 3rd | 2017 | |||
Skyline | Yeshiva | 18–10 (13–7) | 1st | Never | |||
Southern | Berry | 11–17 (3–11) | 1st | Never | |||
SCIAC | Claremont–Mudd–Scripps | 19–7 (15–1) | 14th | 2017 | |||
SCAC | Schreiner | 15–12 (10–4) | 1st | Never | |||
SLIAC | Greenville | 19–8 (14–4) | 1st | Never | |||
SUNYAC | Plattsburgh State | 22–4 (17–1) | 10th | 2016 | |||
UAA | Washington–St. Louis | 22–3 (13–1) | 21st | 2017 | |||
Upper Midwest | Bethany Lutheran | 19–8 (14–3) | 1st | Never | |||
USA South | Maryville (TN) | 22–6 (14–2) | 19th | 2012 | |||
Wisconsin | UW–Stevens Point | 19–8 (11–3) | 15th | 2015 |
The following 21 teams were awarded qualification for the 2018 NCAA field by the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Committee. The committee evaluated teams on the basis of their win-loss percentage, strength of schedule, head-to-head results, results against common opponents, and results against teams included in the NCAA's final regional rankings.[2]
At-large bids | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conference | Team | Record (Conf.) | Appearance | Last bid | |||
MAC Commonwealth | Albright | 20–6 (12–4) | 6th | 2010 | |||
Capital | Christopher Newport | 21–6 (14–4) | 22nd | 2017 | |||
UAA | Emory | 21–4 (12–2) | 7th | 2017 | |||
Centennial | Franklin & Marshall | 20–6 (14–4) | 25th | 2016 | |||
NESCAC | Hamilton | 22–4 (7–3) | 10th | 2006 | |||
CCIW | Illinois Wesleyan | 19–7 (12–4) | 25th | 2015 | |||
American Southwest | LeTourneau | 23–4 (16–2) | 1st | Never | |||
Ohio | Marietta | 21–6 (14–4) | 7th | 2017 | |||
NESCAC | Middlebury | 19–6 (7–3) | 9th | 2017 | |||
New Jersey | New Jersey City | 19–7 (13–5) | 18th | 2017 | |||
CCIW | North Central (IL) | 19–8 (11–5) | 10th | 2017 | |||
Minnesota | St. John's (MN) | 23–3 (19–1) | 9th | 2007 | |||
Minnesota | St. Olaf | 19–7 (15–5) | 4th | 2016 | |||
NEWMAC | Springfield | 18–8 (12–2) | 9th | 2015 | |||
SUNYAC | SUNY Brockport | 19–7 (14–4) | 11th | 2014 | |||
Centennial | Swarthmore | 22–5 (15–3) | 2nd | 2017 | |||
Wisconsin | UW–Oshkosh | 20–7 (9–5) | 8th | 2017 | |||
Wisconsin | UW–Platteville | 22–4 (12–2) | 11th | 2009 | |||
NESCAC | Wesleyan (CT) | 21–6 (7–3) | 3rd | 2017 | |||
Northwest | Whitman | 26–1 (16–0) | 3rd | 2017 | |||
North Coast | Wooster | 21–6 (14–4) | 27th | 2017 |