The 2021 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament was an annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college basketball in the United States. The championship games were held March 24–27, 2021 at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, without fans.
Defending champions Northwest Missouri State defeated West Texas A&M in the championship game, 80–54, to claim the Bearcats' second consecutive and third overall Division II national title.
Biola, Flagler, Fresno Pacific, Lee, Malone, Northwest Nazarene, Nyack, Oklahoma Baptist, and Southern Arkansas qualified for the Division II tournament for the first time.
Qualification A total of 48 bids were available for the tournament: 16 automatic (awarded to the champions of the sixteen Division II conferences that crowned a basketball champion after the end of the regular season) and 32 at-large.
The field size was temporarily reduced for just the 2021 championship to account for teams and conferences that chose to not compete during the 2020–21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Teams from four conferences (CCAA, CIAA, Northeast-10, and Sunshine State) did not participate in the regular season or the tournament.
The remaining bids were allocated evenly among the eight NCAA-designated regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast, and West). Some conferences, however, were shifted from their traditional region to ensure an even distribution of teams across all eight regions. Each region consisted of two automatic qualifiers (the teams who won their respective conference tournaments) and at-large bids.
Automatic bids (16) Region Conference Qualifying school Record Appearance Last bidAtlanticCIAASeason not playedMountain EastFairmont State15–411th2019 G-MAC* Malone17–6 1st —PSACSeason not playedCentralMIAAWashburn19–615th2019Northern SunNorthern State18–112th2019EastCACCBloomfield6–39th2018 East Coast St. Thomas Aquinas13–15th2019 Northeast-10Season not playedMidwest GLIAC Ashland14–8 10th 2019 GLVC Lewis14–9 17th 2019South Gulf South Valdosta State17–4 12th 2019 Peach Belt* Flagler15–2 1st — SIACSeason not played Sunshine StateSeason not playedSouth CentralGreat American*Arkansas–Monticello16–43rd2017 Lone Star Lubbock Christian17–2 3rd 2019Southeast Carolinas Belmont Abbey18–4 7th 2013 South Atlantic Carson-Newman16–5 5th 2018WestCCAASeason not playedGNACSeason not played PacWest Biola9–3 1st — RMAC* Colorado Mesa21–1 7th 2011 *Conference moved out of its usual region for logistics.
At-large bids (32) Qualifying school Record Conference Appearance Last bidAlabama Huntsville14–3Gulf South13th2019Caldwell5–4Central Atlantic2nd2007Charleston (WV)14–3Mountain East7th2014Colorado Mines16–2RMAC10th2019Daemen8–5East Coast2nd2019Dallas Baptist16–4Lone Star5th2019Dominican (NY)4–3East Coast3rd2019Emmanuel15–6Carolinas2nd2019Fresno Pacific11–4PacWest1st—Georgia Southwestern13–5Peach Belt3rd2014Hillsdale20–2G-MAC6th2018Lee14–5Gulf South1st—Lincoln Memorial16–3South Atlantic8th2018Mercyhurst11–0PSAC4th2019Michigan Tech14–7GLIAC10th2015MSU Moorhead10–4Northern Sun6th2017Missouri Western14–10MIAA11th2010Northwest Missouri State23–2MIAA20th2019Northwest Nazarene11–4GNAC1st—Nyack4–4Central Atlantic1st—Oklahoma Baptist15–5Great American1st—Point Loma Nazarene8–2PacWest3rd2019Queens (NC)16–5South Atlantic12th2019Southern Arkansas15–5Great American1st—Southern Indiana11–4GLVC28th2019Truman18–2GLVC9th2018Tusculum13–5South Atlantic3rd2009Wayne State (NE)11–6Northern Sun3rd2000Wayne State (MI)12–6GLIAC13th2013West Georgia13–7Gulf South17th2016West Liberty15–4Mountain East12th2019West Texas A&M15–2Lone Star17th2019
Bracket
Atlantic Regional Site: West Liberty, West Virginia (West Liberty)
Central Regional Site: Aberdeen, South Dakota (Northern State)
East Regional Site: Albany, New York (Saint Rose)
Midwest Regional Site: Evansville, Indiana (Southern Indiana)
South Regional Site: Valdosta, Georgia (Valdosta State)
Southeast Regional Site: Harrogate, Tennessee (Lincoln Memorial)
South Central Regional Site: Lubbock, Texas (Lubbock Christian)
West Regional Site: Golden, Colorado (Colorado Mines)
Elite Eight Site: Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana
See also 2021 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 2021 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament
References