The NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament (officially styled as "Championship" instead of "Tournament") is a tournament to determine the

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is the lowest division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that do not offer athletic scholarships to student- ...

national champion. It has been held annually from 1975 to 2019 & since 2022, but not played in 2020 and 2021 due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

issues. From 1996 to 2012 and 2014 to 2018, the NCAA Division III men's basketball championship was held at the

Salem Civic Center The Salem Civic Center is a 6,820-seat multi-purpose arena in Salem, Virginia. It was built in 1967 and is part of the James E. Taliaferro Sports and Entertainment Complex (named after a former mayor of Salem), which also includes Salem Football ...

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 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

, 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 Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. From 2014 to 2018, the final game returned to Salem. Currently, the Final Four is held in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Allen County War Memorial Coliseum is a 13,000-seat multi-purpose arena located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, near present-day Johnny Appleseed Park. It opened in 1952 with a construction cost of nearly $3 million. The Allen County Wa ...

. 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. Trinity (CT) is the defending national champion, beating NYU 64–60 in the 2025 championship.

Qualification

Since 2024–25, a total of 64 bids have been available for each tournament: *43 automatic bids, awarded to the champions of all Division III conferences. *21 at-large bids.

Conference tournaments

Schools in ''italics'' are, as of the current 2024–25 basketball season, no longer members of that specific conference.

Defunct conferences

Summary

*Source: ;Notes

Locations

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

1975–1976 *

Rock Island, Illinois Rock Island is a city in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 37,108 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the confluence of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock a ...

1977–1981 *

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

1982–1988 *

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...

1989–1992 *

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

1993–1995 * Salem, Virginia 1996-2018 (semifinals only in 2013) *

2013 (championship game only) *

2019, 2022–

Championships, by team

Active programs

Former programs

Programs with at least 20 appearances in the Division III tournament

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

Notes

References

External links

Awards history through 2020-2021Archived

Coaching records through 2020-2021Archived

Attendance records through 2020-2021Archived
{{National Collegiate Athletic Association Recurring sporting events established in 1975