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. 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.
Tournament schedule and venues
Regionals 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.
Elite Eight The national quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals were held at a predetermined site, the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana, from March 21–25, 2023.
Qualifying 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 (23) Automatic bids Region (Bids) Conference School Record (Conf.) AppearanceLast bidAtlantic (3)CIAAWinston–Salem State21–816th2020Mountain EastWest Liberty28–315th2022PSACIndiana (PA)30–119th2022Central (3)Great AmericanSouthern Arkansas22–92nd2021MIAANorthwest Missouri State30–223rd2022Northern SunMinnesota State–Moorhead25–68th2022East (3)CACCCaldwell21–93rd2021East CoastSt. Thomas Aquinas26–48th2022Northeast–10Saint Anselm22–725th2022Midwest (3)GLIACNorthern Michigan24–79th2000GLVCMcKendree18–121stNeverGreat MidwestAshland22–911th2021South (3)Gulf SouthWest Alabama26–57th2022SIACMiles23–65th2022Sunshine StateNova Southeastern30–04th2022South Central (2)Lone StarWest Texas A&M25–620th2022RMACFort Lewis28–312th2018Southeast (3)CarolinasEmmanuel (GA)23–73rd2021Peach BeltAugusta26–515th2022South AtlanticCatawba23–712th2020West (3)CCAACal State San Bernardino27–316th2022Great NorthwestNorthwest Nazarene15–142nd2021PacWestPoint Loma27–36th2022
At-large bids (41) At-large bids Region (Bids) School Conference Record (Conf.) Appearance Last bidAtlantic (5)East StroudsburgPSAC23–88th2019Fairmont StateMountain East24–714th2022MercyhurstPSAC24–57th2022Pittsburgh–JohnstownPSAC20–105th2009Virginia UnionCIAA23–730th2018Central (5)Central OklahomaMIAA26–514th2022Emporia StateMIAA22–83rd2007Minnesota–DuluthNorthern Sun23–97th2022Northern StateNorthern Sun24–615th2021Southern NazareneGreat American25–44th2020East (5)BentleyNortheast–1021–620th2022Dominican (NY)CACC21–86th2022New HavenNortheast–1020–1010th2022PaceNortheast–1020–106th2022Southern New HampshireNortheast–1020–821st2017Midwest (5)Ferris StateGLIAC23–816th2022HillsdaleGreat Midwest23–68th2022IndianapolisGLVC26–413th2020UMSLGLVC21–105th2022Wisconsin–ParksideGLIAC21–87th2017South (5)Alabama–HuntsvilleGulf South25–715th2022Embry–RiddleSunshine State19–113rd2022LeeGulf South20–73rd2021TuskegeeSIAC20–85th2014West GeorgiaGulf South20–818th2021South Central (6)Angelo StateLone Star25–610th2022Black Hills StateRMAC25–52nd2022Colorado MesaRMAC25–510th2022Colorado MinesRMAC26–512th2021Lubbock ChristianLone Star19–115th2022Texas A&M–KingsvilleLone Star22–108th2022Southeast (5)LanderPeach Belt22–96th2020Lincoln MemorialSouth Atlantic27–412th2022North GeorgiaPeach Belt20–71stNeverUNC PembrokeCarolinas26–39th2022USC AikenPeach Belt22–89th2019West (5)Academy of ArtPacWest21–92nd2022Azusa PacificPacWest22–76th2022Cal State San MarcosCCAA19–102nd2022Montana State BillingsGreat Northwest20–911th2012St. Martin'sGreat Northwest24–63rd2019
Regionals Atlantic Site: Indiana, Pennsylvania (Indiana (PA))
Central Site: Maryville, Missouri (NW Missouri State)
* – Denotes overtime period
East Site: Manchester, New Hampshire (St. Anselm)
Midwest Site: Indianapolis, Indiana (Indianapolis)
South Site: Davie, Florida (Nova Southeastern)
South Central Site: Canyon, Texas (West Texas A&M)
Southeast Site: Augusta, Georgia (Augusta)
West Site: San Diego, California (Point Loma)
* – Denotes overtime period
Elite Eight Site: Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana
See also 2023 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament 2023 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament 2023 NAIA men's basketball tournament
References