Tournament to determine the NCAA Division III national champion
TheNCAA Division III men's basketball tournament (officially styled as "Championship" instead of "Tournament") is a tournament to determine theNCAA Division III national champion. It has been held annually from 1975 to 2019 & since 2022, but not played in 2020 and 2021 due toCOVID-19 issues.
From 1996 to 2012 and 2014 to 2018, the NCAA Division III men's basketball championship was held at theSalem Civic Center inSalem, Virginia . The event had been hosted by theOld Dominion Athletic Conference and the City of Salem. From 2017 to 2020 & since 2022, the tournament has been a 64-teamsingle-elimination tournament , with teams advancing from four sectionals to the semifinals and final in Fort Wayne.
For 2013, as part of the celebration of the75th NCAA Division I tournament , the championship games in both the NCAA Division II and Division III tournaments were played at Philips Arena, now known asState Farm Arena , inAtlanta .[ 1] [ 2] Fort Wayne, Indiana atAllen 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] Randolph-Macon College and No. 2Trine University , opted to play a self-organisedmythical national championship game. Randolph-Macon won, 69–55.[ 4]
Trinity (CT) is the defending national champion, beatingNYU 64–60 in the2025 championship .
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 [ edit ] Schools initalics are, as of the upcoming 2025–26 basketball season, no longer members of that specific conference.
Defunct conferences [ edit ] NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship Year Finals Site Championship Game Semifinalists Tournament MOP Winner Score Runner-up 1975 Reading, Pennsylvania LeMoyne-Owen 57-54 Glassboro State Augustana (IL) Brockport Bob NewmanLeMoyne-Owen ) 1976 Scranton 60-57OT ) Wittenberg Augustana (IL) Plattsburgh State Jack MaherScranton ) 1977 Rock Island, Illinois Wittenberg 79-66 Oneonta State Scranton Hamline Rick WhiteWittenberg ) 1978 North Park 69-57 Widener Albion Stony Brook Michael Harper North Park )1979 North Park 66-62 SUNY Potsdam Franklin & Marshall Centre Michael HarperNorth Park ) 1980 North Park 83-76 Upsala Wittenberg Longwood Michael ThomasNorth Park ) 1981 Potsdam State 67-65OT ) Augustana (IL) Ursinus Otterbein Maxwell ArtisAugustana (IL) ) 1982 Grand Rapids, Michigan Wabash 83-62 Potsdam State Brooklyn Stanislaus State Pete Metzelaars Wabash )1983 Scranton 64-63 Wittenberg Roanoke Wisconsin-Whitewater Bill BessoirScranton ) 1984 Wisconsin-Whitewater 103-86 Clark (MA) DePauw Upsala Andre McKoyWisconsin-Whitewater ) 1985 North Park 72-71 Potsdam State Nebraska Wesleyan Widener Earnest HubbardNorth Park ) 1986 Potsdam State 76-73 LeMoyne-Owen Nebraska Wesleyan New Jersey City Roosevelt BullockPotsdam State ) 1987 North Park 106-100 Clark (MA) Wittenberg Richard Stockton Michael StarksNorth Park ) 1988 Ohio Wesleyan 92-70 Scranton Nebraska Wesleyan Hartwick Scott TedderOhio Wesleyan ) 1989 Springfield, Ohio Wisconsin-Whitewater 94-86 Trenton State Southern Maine Centre Greg Grant Trenton State )1990 Rochester 43-42 DePauw Washington College Calvin Chris FiteRochester ) 1991 Wisconsin-Platteville 81-74 Franklin & Marshall Otterbein Ramapo Shawn FrisonWisconsin-Platteville ) 1992 Calvin 62–49 Rochester Wisconsin-Platteville New Jersey City Steve HonderdCalvin ) 1993 Buffalo, New York Ohio Northern 71–68 Augustana (IL) Rowan UMass-Dartmouth Kirk AndersonAugustana (IL) ) 1994 Lebanon Valley 66–59OT ) NYU Wittenberg St. Thomas (MN) Mike Rhoades /Adam CrawfordLebanon Valley /NYU )1995 Wisconsin-Platteville 69-55 Manchester (IN) Rowan Trinity (CT) Ernie PeavyWisconsin-Platteville ) 1996 Salem, Virginia Rowan 100–93 Hope Illinois Wesleyan Franklin & Marshall Terrence StewartRowan ) 1997 Illinois Wesleyan 89–86 Nebraska Wesleyan Williams Alvernia Bryan CrabtreeIllinois Wesleyan ) 1998 Wisconsin-Platteville 69-56 Hope Williams Wilkes Ben HoffmannWisconsin-Platteville ) 1999 Wisconsin-Platteville 76-752OT ) Hampden-Sydney Connecticut College William Paterson Merrill BrunsonWisconsin-Platteville ) 2000 Calvin 79–74 Wisconsin-Eau Claire Salem State Franklin & Marshall Sherm CarstensenWisconsin-Eau Claire ) 2001 Catholic 76–62 William Paterson Illinois Wesleyan Ohio Northern Pat MaloneyCatholic ) 2002 Otterbein 102–83 Elizabethtown Carthage Rochester Jeff Gibbs Otterbein )2003 Williams 67–65 Gustavus Adolphus Wooster Hampden-Sydney Benjamin CoffinWilliams ) 2004 [ 5] Wisconsin-Stevens Point 84–82 Williams John Carroll Amherst Nick BennettWisconsin-Stevens Point ) 2005 Wisconsin-Stevens Point 73–49 Rochester Calvin York (PA) Jason KalsowWisconsin-Stevens Point ) 2006 Virginia Wesleyan 59-56[ 6] Wittenberg Illinois Wesleyan Amherst Ton Ton BalengaVirginia Wesleyan ) 2007 Amherst 80-67[ 7] Virginia Wesleyan Washington-St. Louis Wooster Andrew OlsonAmherst ) 2008 Washington-St. Louis 90–68 Amherst Hope Ursinus Troy RuthsWashington-St. Louis ) 2009 Washington-St. Louis 61-52[ 8] Richard Stockton Guilford Franklin & Marshall Sean WallisWashington-St. Louis ) 2010 Wisconsin-Stevens Point 78-73[ 9] Williams Guilford Randolph-Macon Matt MosesWisconsin-Stevens Point ) 2011 St. Thomas (MN) 78-54[ 10] Wooster Middlebury Williams Tyler NicolaiSt. Thomas (MN) ) 2012 Wisconsin-Whitewater (3)63-60[ 11] Cabrini Illinois Wesleyan MIT Chris DavisWisconsin-Whitewater ) 2013 Atlanta, Georgia [ a] Amherst 87-70[ 12] Mary Hardin-Baylor St. Thomas (MN) North Central (IL) Allen WilliamsonAmherst ) 2014 Salem, Virginia Wisconsin-Whitewater 75-73[ 13] Williams Amherst Illinois Wesleyan K.J. EvansWisconsin-Whitewater ) 2015 Wisconsin-Stevens Point 70–54 Augustana (IL) Babson Virginia Wesleyan Austin RyfWisconsin-Stevens Point ) 2016 St. Thomas (MN) 82–76 Benedictine Christopher Newport Amherst Taylor MonteroSt. Thomas (MN) ) 2017 Babson 79–78 Augustana (IL) Whitman Williams Joey FlanneryBabson ) 2018 Nebraska Wesleyan 78–72 Wisconsin-Oshkosh Ramapo Springfield Cooper CookNebraska Wesleyan ) 2019 Fort Wayne, Indiana Wisconsin-Oshkosh 96–82 Swarthmore Christopher Newport Wheaton (IL) Jack FlynnWisconsin-Oshkosh ) 2020 Atlanta, Georgia [ b] Abandoned after second round due to theCOVID-19 pandemic 2021 Fort Wayne, Indiana Not held because insufficient number of Division III schools played a season because of pandemic. Abowl-game style championship was organised by top two teams in D3Sports.com pollsRandolph-Macon Trine , 69–55, on campus in Ashland, VA.[ 14] 2022 Randolph-Macon 75–45 Elmhurst Marietta Wabash Buzz AnthonyRandolph-Macon ) 2023 Christopher Newport 74–72 Mount Union Wisconsin-Whitewater Swarthmore Trey BarberChristopher Newport ) 2024 Trine 69–61 Hampden-Sydney Guilford Trinity (CT) Cortez GarlandTrine ) 2025 Trinity (CT) 64–60 NYU Wesleyan (CT) Washington-St. Louis Henry VetterTrinity (CT) ) 2026 Indianapolis, Indiana [ c] 2027 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2028
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. ^ Only the championship game will be played in Indianapolis. The semifinals will be played at the traditional site of Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. [ edit ] National championships among active Division III programs: 5,
4,
3,
2,
1
Team Titles Years North Park 5 1978, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1987 Wisconsin-Stevens Point 4 2004, 2005, 2010, 2015 Wisconsin-Whitewater 1984, 1989, 2012, 2014 Wisconsin-Platteville 1991, 1995, 1998, 1999 Amherst 2 2007, 2013 Calvin 1992, 2000 Scranton 1976, 1983 SUNY Potsdam 1981, 1986 Washington-St. Louis 2008, 2009 Trinity (CT) 1 2025 Trine 2024 Christopher Newport 2023 Randolph-Macon 2022 Wisconsin-Oshkosh 2019 Nebraska Wesleyan 2018 Babson 2017 Virginia Wesleyan 2006 Williams 2003 Otterbein 2002 Catholic 2001 Illinois Wesleyan 1997 Rowan 1996 Lebanon Valley 1994 Ohio Northern 1993 Rochester 1990 Ohio Wesleyan 1988 Wabash 1982 Wittenberg 1977
Programs with at least 20 appearances in the Division III tournament [ edit ] List below only includes teams that are currently in Division III. ^ "Success paves way for 75th celebration" (Press release). NCAA. May 10, 2012. Archived fromthe original on May 21, 2012. RetrievedMay 11, 2012 .^ "Preliminary round sites announced for 2014, 2015 NCAA tournaments" . NCAA. December 16, 2012. Archived fromthe original on May 11, 2013. RetrievedJanuary 24, 2013 .^ "Combined championships for NCAA basketball planned" (Press release). NCAA. April 24, 2019. RetrievedApril 25, 2019 .^ "EDITORIAL: Randolph-Macon wins mythical national title" .Fredricksburg.com . (Fredricksburg) Free Lance-Star.^ Kalsow comes through for Pointers - Men's College Basketball - ESPN ^ Balenga leads Virginia Wesleyan to title - Men's College Basketball - ESPN ^ Amherst notches first D-III basketball championship - Men's College Basketball - ESPN ^ Washington University repeats as Division-III champion - ESPN ^ Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers rally to beat Williams College for DIII title - ESPN ^ St. Thomas pounds Wooster for NCAA Division III men's title - ESPN ^ Wisconsin-Whitewater wins D-III men's hoops crown - ESPN ^ 'Willy stuff' helps Amherst to Division III national title ^ "It's a family tradition at Whitewater; KJ Evans earns MOP, follows in uncle's footsteps" .NCAA . NCAA.com. RetrievedApril 10, 2014 .^ "Randolph-Macon runs out to win in showdown" .D3Sports.com . Presto Sports. Retrieved2021-09-26 .^ "Division III Men's Basketball Championship" (PDF) .NCAA . NCAA.org. RetrievedMarch 4, 2023 .
Tournaments Records Related
NCAA men's college basketball tournaments
Division I
Early season Defunct Conference Defunct Postseason Defunct
Division II
Conference Defunct Postseason
Division III
Conference Defunct Postseason
2025 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
