| Current Season: | 2024 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament |
| Pixels: | 140px |
| Sport: | Basketball |
| Founded: | 1975 |
| Teams: | 64 |
| Country: | NCAA Division III (USA) |
| Champion: | Trine (2024; 1st title) |
| Most Champs: | North Park (5 titles) |
| Tv: | CBS Sports Network |
| Website: | NCAA.com |
The NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament (officially styled as "Championship" instead of "Tournament") is a tournament to determine the NCAA Division III national champion. It has been held annually from 1975 to 2019 & since 2022, but not played in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 issues.
From 1996 to 2012 and 2014 to 2018, the NCAA Division III men's basketball championship was held at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia. The event had been hosted by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and the City of Salem. From 2017 to 2020 & since 2022, the tournament has been a 64-team single-elimination tournament, with teams advancing from four sectionals to the semifinals and final in Fort Wayne.
For 2013, as part of the celebration of the 75th NCAA Division I tournament, the championship games in both the NCAA Division II and Division III tournaments were played at Philips Arena, now known as State Farm Arena, in Atlanta.[1] From 2014 to 2018, the final game returned to Salem.[2] Currently, the Final Four is held in Fort Wayne, Indiana at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. For 2020 only, the national semifinals were to be played in Fort Wayne, but the championship game was to have returned to Atlanta, with the NCAA choosing to hold the championship games of both Divisions II and III as part of the festivities surrounding the men's Division I Final Four; however, the NCAA decided to abandon the tournament after the second round, 16 teams remaining.[3] The NCAA also canceled the 2021 tournament after a majority of D-III conferences chose not to play due to continued COVID-19 issues. Of teams and conferences that played, D3Hoops' top two ranked teams, No. 1 Randolph-Macon College and No. 2 Trine University, opted to play a self-organised mythical national championship game. Randolph-Macon won, 69-55.[4]
Trine is the defending national champion, beating Hampden–Sydney 69–61 in the 2024 championship.
Since 2023–24, a total of 64 bids have been available for each tournament:
Schools in italics are, as of the current 2023–24 basketball season, no longer members of that specific conference.
| style= colspan=4 | NCAA Division III men's conference tournaments | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference | Tournament | Most titles | Current champion (2024) | |
| Allegheny Mountain | La Roche, Medaille, & Penn State Behrend (6) | La Roche (6th) | ||
| American Rivers | Tournament | Buena Vista (7) | Loras (3rd) | |
| American Southwest | Tournament | Mississippi College & Texas–Dallas (5) | Texas–Dallas (5th) | |
| Atlantic East | Tournament | Marymount (2) | Marymount (2nd) | |
| Centennial | Tournament | Franklin & Marshall (8) | Swarthmore (4th) | |
| CUNYAC | Tournament | Staten Island (15) | Baruch (6th) | |
| Coast to Coast (C2C) | Tournament | Catholic (7) | Christopher Newport (6th) | |
| CCIW | Tournament | Augustana (6) | Elmhurst (3rd) | |
| CCS | Tournament | Maryville (TN) (2) | Maryville (TN) (2nd) | |
| Commonwealth Coast | Tournament | Endicott (7) | Roger Williams (3rd) | |
| Empire 8 | Tournament | St. John Fisher (8) | Utica (2nd) | |
| Great Northeast | Tournament | Albertus Magnus (9) | Saint Joseph (CT) (3rd) | |
| Heartland | Tournament | Franklin & Hanover (6) | Anderson (2nd) | |
| Landmark | Tournament | Scranton (8) | Catholic (3rd) | |
| Liberty | Tournament | Skidmore (5) | Hobart (3rd) | |
| Little East | Tournament | UMass Dartmouth (12) | Keene State (7th) | |
| MASCAC | Tournament | Salem State (18) | Worcester State (3rd) | |
| Michigan | Tournament | Hope (15) | Hope (15th) | |
| Tournaments | Scranton (16) | Eastern (1st) | ||
| MAC Freedom | Stevens (3rd) | |||
| Midwest | Tournament | Ripon (8) | Illinois College (3rd) | |
| Minnesota | Tournament | St. Thomas (9) | Gustavus Adolphus (4th) | |
| NESCAC | Tournament | Amherst (8) | Trinity (2nd) | |
| NEWMAC | Tournament | Babson & MIT (6) | Babson (6th) | |
| NJAC | Tournament | Stockton (6) | TCNJ (2nd) | |
| North Atlantic | Championship | Husson (9) | Husson (9th) | |
| NCAC | Tournament | Wooster (16th) | Wabash (3rd) | |
| NACC | Tournament | Aurora (5) | Wisconsin Lutheran (2nd) | |
| Northwest | Tournament | Whitworth (16) | Whitworth (16th) | |
| Ohio | Tournament | Wittenberg (14) | John Carroll (6th) | |
| ODAC | Tournament | Hampden-Sydney (11) | Hampden-Sydney (11th) | |
| Presidents | Tournament | Bethany (6) | Geneva (1st) | |
| SLIAC | Tournament | Fontbonne (7) | Fontbonne (7th) | |
| Skyline | Tournament | Farmingdale State (7) | Farmingdale State (7th) | |
| SAA | Tournament | Berry (4) | Berry (4th) | |
| SCIAC | Tournament | Claremont–Mudd–Scripps (7) | Claremont–Mudd–Scripps (7th) | |
| SCAC | Tournament | Trinity (TX) (6) | Centenary (LA) (2nd) | |
| SUNYAC | Tournament | Buffalo State (15) | New Paltz (1st) | |
| United East | Championship | Morrisville State (5) | Penn State Harrisburg (3rd) | |
| UAA | No tournament | |||
| UMAC | Tournament | Northwestern–St. Paul (13) | Bethany Lutheran (4rd) | |
| USA South | Tournament | Christopher Newport (15) | Mary Baldwin | |
| WIAC | Tournament | Wisconsin–Stevens Point (9) | Wisconsin–Platteville (4th) | |
| style= colspan=5 | Defunct NCAA Division III men's conference tournaments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference | Tournament | First year | Last year | Most titles | |
| Colonial States | Tournament | 1994 | 2023 | Cabrini (13) | |
| NECC | Tournament | 2009 | 2023 | Elms and Mitchell (4) |
| style= colspan=11 | NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Finals Site | Championship Game | Semifinalists | Tournament MOP (University) | ||||
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | ||||||
| 1975 | Reading, Pennsylvania | LeMoyne–Owen | 57 - 54 | Glassboro State | Augustana (IL) Brockport | Bob Newman (LeMoyne–Owen) | ||
| 1976 | Scranton | 60 - 57 (OT) | Wittenberg | Augustana (IL) Plattsburgh State | Jack Maher (Scranton) | |||
| 1977 | Rock Island, Illinois | Wittenberg | 79 - 66 | Scranton Hamline | Rick White (Wittenberg) | |||
| 1978 | North Park | 69 - 57 | Albion Stony Brook | Michael Harper (North Park) | ||||
| 1979 | North Park (2) | 66 - 62 | SUNY Potsdam | Franklin & Marshall Centre | Michael Harper (North Park) | |||
| 1980 | North Park (3) | 83 - 76 | Upsala | Wittenberg Longwood | Michael Thomas (North Park) | |||
| 1981 | Potsdam State | 67 - 65 (OT) | Augustana (IL) | Ursinus Otterbein | Maxwell Artis (Augustana–IL) | |||
| 1982 | Grand Rapids, Michigan | Wabash | 83 - 62 | Potsdam State | Brooklyn Stanislaus State | Pete Metzelaars (Wabash) | ||
| 1983 | Scranton (2) | 64 - 63 | Wittenberg | Roanoke Wisconsin–Whitewater | Bill Bessoir (Scranton) | |||
| 1984 | Wisconsin–Whitewater | 103 - 86 | DePauw Upsala | Andre McKoy (Wisconsin–Whitewater) | ||||
| 1985 | North Park (4) | 72 - 71 | Potsdam State | Nebraska Wesleyan Widener | Earnest Hubbard (North Park) | |||
| 1986 | Potsdam State (2) | 76 - 73 | LeMoyne–Owen | Nebraska Wesleyan New Jersey City | Roosevelt Bullock (Potsdam State) | |||
| 1987 | North Park (5) | 106 - 100 | Wittenberg Richard Stockton | Michael Starks (North Park) | ||||
| 1988 | Ohio Wesleyan | 92 - 70 | Scranton | Nebraska Wesleyan Hartwick | Scott Tedder (Ohio Wesleyan) | |||
| 1989 | Springfield, Ohio | Wisconsin–Whitewater (2) | 94 - 86 | Trenton State | Southern Maine Centre | Greg Grant (Trenton State) | ||
| 1990 | Rochester | 43 - 42 | DePauw | Washington College Calvin | Chris Fite (Rochester) | |||
| 1991 | Wisconsin–Platteville | 81 - 74 | Franklin & Marshall | Otterbein Ramapo | Shawn Frison (Wisconsin–Platteville) | |||
| 1992 | Calvin | 62 - 49 | Rochester | Wisconsin–Platteville New Jersey City | Steve Honderd (Calvin) | |||
| 1993 | Buffalo, New York | Ohio Northern | 71 - 68 | Augustana (IL) | Rowan UMass–Dartmouth | Kirk Anderson (Augustana–IL) | ||
| 1994 | Lebanon Valley | 66 - 59 (OT) | NYU | Wittenberg St. Thomas (MN) | Mike Rhoades/Adam Crawford (Lebanon Valley/NYU) | |||
| 1995 | Wisconsin–Platteville (2) | 69 - 55 | Manchester (IN) | Rowan Trinity (CT) | Ernie Peavy (Wisconsin–Platteville) | |||
| 1996 | Salem, Virginia | Rowan | 100 - 93 | Illinois Wesleyan Franklin & Marshall | Terrence Stewart (Rowan) | |||
| 1997 | Illinois Wesleyan | 89 - 86 | Nebraska Wesleyan | Williams Alvernia | Bryan Crabtree (Illinois Wesleyan) | |||
| 1998 | Wisconsin–Platteville (3) | 69 - 56 | Hope | Williams Wilkes | Ben Hoffmann (Wisconsin–Platteville) | |||
| 1999 | Wisconsin–Platteville (4) | 76 - 75 (2OT) | Connecticut College William Paterson | Merrill Brunson (Wisconsin–Platteville) | ||||
| 2000 | Calvin (2) | 79 - 74 | Wisconsin–Eau Claire | Salem State Franklin & Marshall | Sherm Carstensen (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) | |||
| 2001 | Catholic | 76 - 62 | William Paterson | Illinois Wesleyan Ohio Northern | Pat Maloney (Catholic) | |||
| 2002 | Otterbein | 102 - 83 | Elizabethtown | Carthage Rochester | Jeff Gibbs (Otterbein) | |||
| 2003 | Williams | 67 - 65 | Gustavus Adolphus | Wooster Hampden–Sydney | Benjamin Coffin (Williams) | |||
| 2004[5] | Wisconsin–Stevens Point | 84 - 82 | Williams | John Carroll Amherst | Nick Bennett (Wisconsin–Stevens Point) | |||
| 2005 | Wisconsin–Stevens Point (2) | 73 - 49 | Rochester | Calvin York (PA) | Jason Kalsow (Wisconsin–Stevens Point) | |||
| 2006 | Virginia Wesleyan | 59 - 56[6] | Wittenberg | Illinois Wesleyan Amherst | Ton Ton Balenga (Virginia Wesleyan) | |||
| 2007 | Amherst | 80 - 67[7] | Virginia Wesleyan | Washington–St. Louis Wooster | Andrew Olson (Amherst) | |||
| 2008 | Washington–St. Louis | 90 - 68 | Amherst | Hope Ursinus | Troy Ruths (Washington–St. Louis) | |||
| 2009 | Washington–St. Louis (2) | 61 - 52[8] | Richard Stockton | Guilford Franklin & Marshall | Sean Wallis (Washington–St. Louis) | |||
| 2010 | Wisconsin–Stevens Point (3) | 78 - 73[9] | Williams | Guilford Randolph–Macon | Matt Moses (Wisconsin–Stevens Point) | |||
| 2011 | St. Thomas (MN) | 78 - 54[10] | Wooster | Middlebury Williams | Tyler Nicolai (St. Thomas–MN) | |||
| 2012 | Wisconsin–Whitewater (3) | 63 - 60[11] | Cabrini | Illinois Wesleyan MIT | Chris Davis (Wisconsin–Whitewater) | |||
| 2013 | Atlanta, Georgia | Amherst (2) | 87 - 70[12] | Mary Hardin–Baylor | St. Thomas (MN) North Central (IL) | Allen Williamson (Amherst) | ||
| 2014 | Salem, Virginia | Wisconsin–Whitewater (4) | 75 - 73[13] | Williams | Amherst Illinois Wesleyan | K. J. Evans (Wisconsin–Whitewater) | ||
| 2015 | Wisconsin–Stevens Point (4) | 70 - 54 | Augustana (IL) | Babson Virginia Wesleyan | Austin Ryf (Wisconsin–Stevens Point) | |||
| 2016 | St. Thomas (MN) (2) | 82 - 76 | Benedictine | Christopher Newport Amherst | Taylor Montero (St. Thomas-MN) | |||
| 2017 | Babson | 79 - 78 | Augustana (IL) | Whitman Williams | Joey Flannery (Babson) | |||
| 2018 | Nebraska Wesleyan | 78 - 72 | Wisconsin–Oshkosh | Ramapo Springfield | Cooper Cook (Nebraska Wesleyan) | |||
| 2019 | Fort Wayne, Indiana | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | 96 - 82 | Swarthmore | Christopher Newport Wheaton (IL) | Jack Flynn (Wisconsin–Oshkosh) | ||
| 2020 | Atlanta, Georgia | Abandoned after second round due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||||
| 2021 | Fort Wayne, Indiana | Not held because insufficient number of Division III schools played a season because of pandemic. A bowl-game style championship was organised by top two teams in D3Sports.com polls Randolph-Macon defeated Trine, 69-55, on campus in Ashland, VA.[14] | ||||||
| 2022 | Randolph-Macon | 75 - 45 | Elmhurst | Marietta Wabash | Buzz Anthony (Randolph-Macon) | |||
| 2023 | Christopher Newport | 74 - 72 | Mount Union | Wisconsin-Whitewater Swarthmore | Trey Barber (Christopher Newport) | |||
| 2024 | Trine | 69 - 61 | Hampden–Sydney | Guilford Trinity (CT) | Cortez Garland (Trine) | |||
| 2025 | ||||||||
| 2026 | ||||||||
| Team | Titles | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style= | 5 | 1978, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1987 | ||
| style= | 4 | 2004, 2005, 2010, 2015 | ||
| style= | 4 | 1984, 1989, 2012, 2014 | ||
| style= | 4 | 1991, 1995, 1998, 1999 | ||
| style= | 2 | 2007, 2013 | ||
| style= | 2 | 1992, 2000 | ||
| style= | 2 | 1976, 1983 | ||
| style= | 2 | 1981, 1986 | ||
| style= | 2 | 2008, 2009 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2024 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2023 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2022 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2019 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2018 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2017 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2006 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2003 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2002 | ||
| style= | 1 | 2001 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1997 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1996 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1994 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1993 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1990 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1988 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1982 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1977 |
| Team | Titles | Years | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| style= | 2 | 2011, 2016 | ||
| style= | 1 | 1975 |
See also: List of NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament bids by school.
| Bids | School | Conference | First Bid | Most Recent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Hope | Michigan | 1982 | 2024 | |
| 30 | Wittenberg | North Coast | 1975 | 2020 | |
| 29 | Scranton | Landmark | 1975 | 2023 | |
| 29 | Wooster | North Coast | 1978 | 2020 | |
| 27 | Christopher Newport | Coast to Coast | 1986 | 2024 | |
| 26 | Illinois Wesleyan | CCIW | 1984 | 2022 | |
| 25 | Franklin & Marshall | Centennial | 1975 | 2018 | |
| 25 | Salem State | MASCAC | 1980 | 2019 | |
| 25 | Washington–St. Louis | UAA | 1987 | 2024 | |
| 23 | Calvin | Michigan | 1980 | 2024 | |
| 22 | Wisconsin–Whitewater | Wisconsin | 1983 | 2023 | |
| 20 | Amherst | NESCAC | 1994 | 2019 | |
| 20 | Maryville (TN) | CCS | 1991 | 2019 | |
| 20 | Randolph–Macon | Old Dominion | 1990 | 2024 | |
| 20 | Williams | NESCAC | 1994 | 2024 |