Division: | II |
Year: | 2023 |
Gender: | men's |
Teams: | 64 |
Champions: | Nova Southeastern Sharks |
Titlecount: | 1st |
Runnerup: | West Liberty Hilltoppers |
Gamecount: | 2nd |
Semifinal1: | Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes |
Finalfourcount: | 2nd |
Semifinal2: | Black Hills State Yellow Jackets |
Finalfourcount2: | 2nd |
Coach: | Jim Crutchfield |
Coachcount: | 1st |
Mop: | Will Yoakum & RJ Sunahara |
Mopteam: | Nova Southeastern |
Finalfourcity: | Ford Center Evansville, Indiana |
The 2023 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament was the single-elimination tournament to determine the annual national champion of men's NCAA Division II college basketball in the United States.
The championship rounds were held from March 21–25, 2023 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
Nova Southeastern won their first ever national championship, beating West Liberty 111–101 in the championship game.[1] The Sharks also completed a perfect 36–0 season, the first team to do so since Northwest Missouri State in 2019.
McKendree and North Georgia participated in the tournament for the first time, with both winning tournament games, and the former making it to the Regional Final.
First, second, and third-round games (the last of which doubles as a regional championship), will take place on campus sites from March 11–14, 2023. The top-seeded team in each regional serves as host.
The national quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals will be held at a predetermined site, the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, from March 21–25, 2023.
A total of sixty-four bids are available for the tournament: 23 automatic bids (awarded to the champions of the twenty-three Division II conferences) and 41 at-large bids.
The bids are allocated evenly among the eight NCAA-designated regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast, and West), each of which contains either two or three of the twenty-three Division II conferences that sponsor men's basketball. Each region consists of two or three automatic qualifiers (the teams who won their respective conference tournaments) and either five or six at-large bids, awarded regardless of conference affiliation.
Automatic bids | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Region (Bids) | Conference | School | Record (Conf.) | Appearance | Last bid | |
Atlantic (3) | CIAA | Winston–Salem State | 21–8 | 16th | 2020 | |
Mountain East | West Liberty | 28–3 | 15th | 2022 | ||
PSAC | Indiana (PA) | 30–1 | 19th | 2022 | ||
Central (3) | Great American | Southern Arkansas | 22–9 | 2nd | 2021 | |
MIAA | Northwest Missouri State | 30–2 | 23rd | 2022 | ||
Northern Sun | Minnesota State–Moorhead | 25–6 | 8th | 2022 | ||
East (3) | CACC | Caldwell | 21–9 | 3rd | 2021 | |
East Coast | St. Thomas Aquinas | 26–4 | 8th | 2022 | ||
Northeast–10 | Saint Anselm | 22–7 | 25th | 2022 | ||
Midwest (3) | GLIAC | Northern Michigan | 24–7 | 9th | 2000 | |
GLVC | McKendree | 18–12 | 1st | Never | ||
Great Midwest | Ashland | 22–9 | 11th | 2021 | ||
South (3) | Gulf South | West Alabama | 26–5 | 7th | 2022 | |
SIAC | Miles | 23–6 | 5th | 2022 | ||
Sunshine State | Nova Southeastern | 30–0 | 4th | 2022 | ||
South Central (2) | Lone Star | West Texas A&M | 25–6 | 20th | 2022 | |
RMAC | Fort Lewis | 28–3 | 12th | 2018 | ||
Southeast (3) | Carolinas | Emmanuel (GA) | 23–7 | 3rd | 2021 | |
Peach Belt | Augusta | 26–5 | 15th | 2022 | ||
South Atlantic | Catawba | 23–7 | 12th | 2020 | ||
West (3) | CCAA | Cal State San Bernardino | 27–3 | 16th | 2022 | |
Great Northwest | Northwest Nazarene | 15–14 | 2nd | 2021 | ||
PacWest | Point Loma | 27–3 | 6th | 2022 |
At-large bids | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Region (Bids) | School | Conference | Record (Conf.) | Appearance | Last bid |
Atlantic (5) | East Stroudsburg | PSAC | 23–8 | 8th | 2019 |
Fairmont State | Mountain East | 24–7 | 14th | 2022 | |
Mercyhurst | PSAC | 24–5 | 7th | 2022 | |
Pittsburgh–Johnstown | PSAC | 20–10 | 5th | 2009 | |
Virginia Union | CIAA | 23–7 | 30th | 2018 | |
Central (5) | Central Oklahoma | MIAA | 26–5 | 14th | 2022 |
Emporia State | MIAA | 22–8 | 3rd | 2007 | |
Minnesota–Duluth | Northern Sun | 23–9 | 7th | 2022 | |
Northern State | Northern Sun | 24–6 | 15th | 2021 | |
Southern Nazarene | Great American | 25–4 | 4th | 2020 | |
East (5) | Bentley | Northeast–10 | 21–6 | 20th | 2022 |
Dominican (NY) | CACC | 21–8 | 6th | 2022 | |
New Haven | Northeast–10 | 20–10 | 10th | 2022 | |
Pace | Northeast–10 | 20–10 | 6th | 2022 | |
Southern New Hampshire | Northeast–10 | 20–8 | 21st | 2017 | |
Midwest (5) | Ferris State | GLIAC | 23–8 | 16th | 2022 |
Hillsdale | Great Midwest | 23–6 | 8th | 2022 | |
Indianapolis | GLVC | 26–4 | 13th | 2020 | |
UMSL | GLVC | 21–10 | 5th | 2022 | |
Wisconsin–Parkside | GLIAC | 21–8 | 7th | 2017 | |
South (5) | Alabama–Huntsville | Gulf South | 25–7 | 15th | 2022 |
Embry–Riddle | Sunshine State | 19–11 | 3rd | 2022 | |
Lee | Gulf South | 20–7 | 3rd | 2021 | |
Tuskegee | SIAC | 20–8 | 5th | 2014 | |
West Georgia | Gulf South | 20–8 | 18th | 2021 | |
South Central (6) | Angelo State | Lone Star | 25–6 | 10th | 2022 |
Black Hills State | RMAC | 25–5 | 2nd | 2022 | |
Colorado Mesa | RMAC | 25–5 | 10th | 2022 | |
Colorado Mines | RMAC | 26–5 | 12th | 2021 | |
Lubbock Christian | Lone Star | 19–11 | 5th | 2022 | |
Texas A&M–Kingsville | Lone Star | 22–10 | 8th | 2022 | |
Southeast (5) | Lander | Peach Belt | 22–9 | 6th | 2020 |
Lincoln Memorial | South Atlantic | 27–4 | 12th | 2022 | |
North Georgia | Peach Belt | 20–7 | 1st | Never | |
UNC Pembroke | Carolinas | 26–3 | 9th | 2022 | |
USC Aiken | Peach Belt | 22–8 | 9th | 2019 | |
West (5) | Academy of Art | PacWest | 21–9 | 2nd | 2022 |
Azusa Pacific | PacWest | 22–7 | 6th | 2022 | |
Cal State San Marcos | CCAA | 19–10 | 2nd | 2022 | |
Montana State Billings | Great Northwest | 20–9 | 11th | 2012 | |
St. Martin's | Great Northwest | 24–6 | 3rd | 2019 |
* – Denotes overtime period
* – Denotes overtime period