# NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament

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. From 2014 to 2018, the final game returned to Salem. 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. 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.
Trine is the defending national champion, beating Hampden–Sydney 69–61 in the 2024 championship.

## Qualification

Since 2023–24, a total of 64 bids have been available for each tournament:
* 42 automatic bids, awarded to the champions of all Division III conferences.
* 22 at-large bids.

### Conference tournaments

Schools in italics are, as of the current 2024–25 basketball season, no longer members of that specific conference.
NCAA Division III men's conference tournaments :
| Conference | Tournament | Most titles | Current champion (2025) |
| Allegheny Mountain | Tournament | La Roche (6) Medaille (6) Penn State Behrend (6) | Pitt–Bradford (3rd) |
| American Rivers | Tournament | Buena Vista (7) | Central (4th) |
| American Southwest | Tournament | Mississippi College (5) Texas–Dallas (5) | Hardin–Simmons (3rd) |
| Atlantic East | Tournament | Marymount (2) Neumann (2) | Neumann (2nd) |
| Centennial | Tournament | Franklin & Marshall (9) | Franklin & Marshall (9th) |
| CUNYAC | Tournament | Staten Island (15) | John Jay (2nd) |
| Coast to Coast (C2C) | Tournament | Catholic (7) | Mary Washington (3rd) |
| CCIW | Tournament | Augustana (6) | Illinois Wesleyan (2nd) |
| CCS* | Tournament | Maryville (TN) (2) | Huntingdon (1st) |
| Commonwealth Coast | Tournament | Endicott (7) | Western New England (1st) |
| Empire 8 | Tournament | St. John Fisher (8) | Utica (2nd) |
| Great Northeast | Tournament | Albertus Magnus (9) | St. Joseph's (ME) (2nd) |
| Heartland | Tournament | Franklin (7) | Franklin (7th) |
| Landmark | Tournament | Scranton (8) | Drew (2nd) |
| Liberty | Tournament | Skidmore (5) | Ithaca (2nd) |
| Little East | Tournament | UMass Dartmouth (12) | Keene State (8th) |
| MASCAC | Tournament | Salem State (18) | Westfield State (4th) |
| Michigan | Tournament | Hope (15) | Calvin (13th) |
| MAC Commonwealth | Tournaments | Scranton (16) | York (PA) (1st) |
| MAC Freedom | Tournaments | Scranton (16) | Delaware Valley (4th) |
| Midwest | Tournament | Ripon (8) | Grinnell (3rd) |
| Minnesota | Tournament | St. Thomas (9) | Saint John's (5th) |
| NESCAC | Tournament | Amherst (8) | Trinity (3rd) |
| NEWMAC | Tournament | Babson & MIT (6) | Clark (5th) |
| NJAC | Tournament | Stockton (6) | Montclair State (2nd) |
| North Atlantic | Championship | Husson (10) | Husson (10th) |
| NCAC | Tournament | Wooster (16th) | Denison (2nd) |
| NACC | Tournament | Aurora (5) | Wisconsin Lutheran (3rd) |
| Northwest | Tournament | Whitworth (16) | Lewis & Clark (5th) |
| Ohio | Tournament | Wittenberg (14) | John Carroll (7th) |
| ODAC | Tournament | Hampden-Sydney (11) | Guilford (5th) |
| Presidents | Tournament | Bethany (6) | Chatham (3rd) |
| SLIAC | Tournament | Fontbonne (7) | Greenville (3rd) |
| Skyline | Tournament | Farmingdale State (7) | Yeshiva (4th) |
| SAA | Tournament | Berry (5) | Berry (5th) |
| SCIAC | Tournament | Claremont–Mudd–Scripps (8) | Claremont–Mudd–Scripps (8th) |
| SCAC | Tournament | Trinity (TX) (6) | St. Thomas (TX) (3rd) |
| SUNYAC | Tournament | Buffalo State (15) | Cortland (4th) |
| United East | Championship | Morrisville State (5) | Bryn Athyn (1st) |
| UAA | No tournament | No tournament | No tournament |
| UMAC | Tournament | Northwestern–St. Paul (13) | Bethany Lutheran (5rd) |
| USA South | Tournament | Christopher Newport (15) | Pfeiffer (1st) |
| WIAC | Tournament | Wisconsin–Stevens Point (9) | Wisconsin–Platteville (5th) |

#### Defunct conferences

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) |

## Summary

NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship :
| Year | Finals Site | Championship Game | Championship Game | Championship Game | | Semifinalists | Tournament MOP (University) |
| Year | Finals Site | Winner | Score | Runner-up | | Semifinalists | Tournament MOP (University) |
| 1975 | Reading, Pennsylvania | LeMoyne-Owen | 57-54 | Glassboro State | | Augustana (IL) Brockport | Bob Newman (LeMoyne-Owen) |
| 1976 | Reading, Pennsylvania | Scranton | 60-57 (OT) | Wittenberg | | Augustana (IL) Plattsburgh State | Jack Maher (Scranton) |
| 1977 | Rock Island, Illinois | Wittenberg | 79-66 | Oneonta State | | Scranton Hamline | Rick White (Wittenberg) |
| 1978 | Rock Island, Illinois | North Park | 69-57 | Widener | | Albion Stony Brook | Michael Harper (North Park) |
| 1979 | Rock Island, Illinois | North Park (2) | 66-62 | SUNY Potsdam | | Franklin & Marshall Centre | Michael Harper (North Park) |
| 1980 | Rock Island, Illinois | North Park (3) | 83-76 | Upsala | | Wittenberg Longwood | Michael Thomas (North Park) |
| 1981 | Rock Island, Illinois | 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 | Grand Rapids, Michigan | Scranton (2) | 64-63 | Wittenberg | | Roanoke Wisconsin-Whitewater | Bill Bessoir (Scranton) |
| 1984 | Grand Rapids, Michigan | Wisconsin-Whitewater | 103-86 | Clark (MA) | | DePauw Upsala | Andre McKoy (Wisconsin-Whitewater) |
| 1985 | Grand Rapids, Michigan | North Park (4) | 72-71 | Potsdam State | | Nebraska Wesleyan Widener | Earnest Hubbard (North Park) |
| 1986 | Grand Rapids, Michigan | Potsdam State (2) | 76-73 | LeMoyne-Owen | | Nebraska Wesleyan New Jersey City | Roosevelt Bullock (Potsdam State) |
| 1987 | Grand Rapids, Michigan | North Park (5) | 106-100 | Clark (MA) | | Wittenberg Richard Stockton | Michael Starks (North Park) |
| 1988 | Grand Rapids, Michigan | 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 | Springfield, Ohio | Rochester | 43-42 | DePauw | | Washington College Calvin | Chris Fite (Rochester) |
| 1991 | Springfield, Ohio | Wisconsin-Platteville | 81-74 | Franklin & Marshall | | Otterbein Ramapo | Shawn Frison (Wisconsin-Platteville) |
| 1992 | Springfield, Ohio | 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 | Buffalo, New York | Lebanon Valley | 66-59 (OT) | NYU | | Wittenberg St. Thomas (MN) | Mike Rhoades/Adam Crawford (Lebanon Valley/NYU) |
| 1995 | Buffalo, New York | Wisconsin-Platteville (2) | 69-55 | Manchester (IN) | | Rowan Trinity (CT) | Ernie Peavy (Wisconsin-Platteville) |
| 1996 | Salem, Virginia | Rowan | 100-93 | Hope | | Illinois Wesleyan Franklin & Marshall | Terrence Stewart (Rowan) |
| 1997 | Salem, Virginia | Illinois Wesleyan | 89-86 | Nebraska Wesleyan | | Williams Alvernia | Bryan Crabtree (Illinois Wesleyan) |
| 1998 | Salem, Virginia | Wisconsin-Platteville (3) | 69-56 | Hope | | Williams Wilkes | Ben Hoffmann (Wisconsin-Platteville) |
| 1999 | Salem, Virginia | Wisconsin-Platteville (4) | 76-75 (2OT) | Hampden-Sydney | | Connecticut College William Paterson | Merrill Brunson (Wisconsin-Platteville) |
| 2000 | Salem, Virginia | Calvin (2) | 79-74 | Wisconsin-Eau Claire | | Salem State Franklin & Marshall | Sherm Carstensen (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) |
| 2001 | Salem, Virginia | Catholic | 76-62 | William Paterson | | Illinois Wesleyan Ohio Northern | Pat Maloney (Catholic) |
| 2002 | Salem, Virginia | Otterbein | 102-83 | Elizabethtown | | Carthage Rochester | Jeff Gibbs (Otterbein) |
| 2003 | Salem, Virginia | Williams | 67-65 | Gustavus Adolphus | | Wooster Hampden-Sydney | Benjamin Coffin (Williams) |
| 2004 | Salem, Virginia | Wisconsin-Stevens Point | 84-82 | Williams | | John Carroll Amherst | Nick Bennett (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) |
| 2005 | Salem, Virginia | Wisconsin-Stevens Point (2) | 73-49 | Rochester | | Calvin York (PA) | Jason Kalsow (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) |
| 2006 | Salem, Virginia | Virginia Wesleyan | 59-56 | Wittenberg | | Illinois Wesleyan Amherst | Ton Ton Balenga (Virginia Wesleyan) |
| 2007 | Salem, Virginia | Amherst | 80-67 | Virginia Wesleyan | | Washington-St. Louis Wooster | Andrew Olson (Amherst) |
| 2008 | Salem, Virginia | Washington-St. Louis | 90-68 | Amherst | | Hope Ursinus | Troy Ruths (Washington-St. Louis) |
| 2009 | Salem, Virginia | Washington-St. Louis (2) | 61-52 | Richard Stockton | | Guilford Franklin & Marshall | Sean Wallis (Washington-St. Louis) |
| 2010 | Salem, Virginia | Wisconsin-Stevens Point (3) | 78-73 | Williams | | Guilford Randolph-Macon | Matt Moses (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) |
| 2011 | Salem, Virginia | St. Thomas (MN) | 78-54 | Wooster | | Middlebury Williams | Tyler Nicolai (St. Thomas (MN)) |
| 2012 | Salem, Virginia | Wisconsin-Whitewater (3) | 63-60 | Cabrini | | Illinois Wesleyan MIT | Chris Davis (Wisconsin-Whitewater) |
| 2013 | Atlanta, Georgia | Amherst (2) | 87-70 | Mary Hardin-Baylor | | St. Thomas (MN) North Central (IL) | Allen Williamson (Amherst) |
| 2014 | Salem, Virginia | Wisconsin-Whitewater (4) | 75-73 | Williams | | Amherst Illinois Wesleyan | K.J. Evans (Wisconsin-Whitewater) |
| 2015 | Salem, Virginia | Wisconsin-Stevens Point (4) | 70-54 | Augustana (IL) | | Babson Virginia Wesleyan | Austin Ryf (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) |
| 2016 | Salem, Virginia | St. Thomas (MN) (2) | 82-76 | Benedictine | | Christopher Newport Amherst | Taylor Montero (St. Thomas (MN)) |
| 2017 | Salem, Virginia | Babson | 79–78 | Augustana (IL) | | Whitman Williams | Joey Flannery (Babson) |
| 2018 | Salem, Virginia | 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 | Abandoned after second round due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Abandoned after second round due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Abandoned after second round due to the COVID-19 pandemic | Abandoned after second round due to the COVID-19 pandemic | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. |
| 2022 | Fort Wayne, Indiana | Randolph-Macon | 75-45 | Elmhurst | | Marietta Wabash | Buzz Anthony (Randolph-Macon) |
| 2023 | Fort Wayne, Indiana | Christopher Newport | 74-72 | Mount Union | | Wisconsin-Whitewater Swarthmore | Trey Barber (Christopher Newport) |
| 2024 | Fort Wayne, Indiana | Trine | 69-61 | Hampden-Sydney | | Guilford Trinity (CT) | Cortez Garland (Trine) |
| 2025 | Fort Wayne, Indiana | | | | | | |
| 2026 | Fort Wayne, Indiana | | | | | | |
* Source:

### Notes

* ↑ Only the championship game was played in Atlanta. The semifinals were played at the then-traditional site of the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia.
* ↑ Only the championship game would have been played in Atlanta. The semifinals would have been played at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

## Locations

* Reading, Pennsylvania 1975–1976
* Rock Island, Illinois 1977–1981
* Grand Rapids, Michigan 1982–1988
* Springfield, Ohio 1989–1992
* Buffalo, New York 1993–1995
* Salem, Virginia 1996-2018 (semifinals only in 2013)
* Atlanta 2013 (championship game only)
* Fort Wayne, Indiana 2019, 2022–

## Championships, by team
### Active programs

| Team | Titles | Years |
| North Park | 5 | 1978, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1987 |
| Wisconsin-Stevens Point} | 4 | 2004, 2005, 2010, 2015 |
| Wisconsin-Whitewater | 4 | 1984, 1989, 2012, 2014 |
| Wisconsin-Platteville | 4 | 1991, 1995, 1998, 1999 |
| Amherst | 2 | 2007, 2013 |
| Calvin | 2 | 1992, 2000 |
| Scranton | 2 | 1976, 1983 |
| SUNY Potsdam | 2 | 1981, 1986 |
| Washington-St. Louis | 2 | 2008, 2009 |
| Trine | 1 | 2024 |
| Christopher Newport | 1 | 2023 |
| Randolph-Macon | 1 | 2022 |
| Wisconsin-Oshkosh | 1 | 2019 |
| Nebraska Wesleyan | 1 | 2018 |
| Babson | 1 | 2017 |
| Virginia Wesleyan | 1 | 2006 |
| Williams | 1 | 2003 |
| Otterbein | 1 | 2002 |
| Catholic | 1 | 2001 |
| Illinois Wesleyan | 1 | 1997 |
| Rowan | 1 | 1996 |
| Lebanon Valley | 1 | 1994 |
| Ohio Northern | 1 | 1993 |
| Rochester | 1 | 1990 |
| Ohio Wesleyan | 1 | 1988 |
| Wabash | 1 | 1982 |
| Wittenberg | 1 | 1977 |

### Former programs

| Team | Titles | Years |
| St. Thomas (MN) | 2 | 2011, 2016 |
| LeMoyne-Owen | 1 | 1975 |

## Programs with at least 20 appearances in the Division III tournament

* List below only includes teams that are currently in Division III.
| 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 |