It has been a landmark year for the NCAA’s Division III, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023.

The category was the result of a vote by NCAA members to restructure and divide member schools into three divisions, rather than two, and it works out that schools generally get to compete against institutions of similar size and skill level.

Division III, since its debut in 1973, has grown to become the largest classification, now boasting 477 members (433 active schools and 44 voting conferences) and more than 200,000 student-athletes across 36 states.

In Division III competition, there are 28 national championships up for grabs each year, including basketball. And, to be fair, what sports fan hasn’t heard of March Madness? 

While the term “March Madness” may be reserved for the Division I men’s and women’s season-ending national tournaments, the sentiment is not lost on the Division III postseason participants. Plus, nearly all of the competition—men and women—takes place in March, too.

Subscribe To FloHoops To Watch The Cayman Islands Classic In 2023

Why Do College Basketball Teams Take Foreign Tours?

How Does The NCAA Division II Basketball Tournament Work?

Regardless of what it’s called, the ultimate goal for most, if not all collegiate athletes is to be among the ones who finish the season by hoisting one of the iconic trophies given to NCAA champions each year. 

The culmination of the Division III college hoops season is a pair of championship events that includes 64 men’s teams and 64 women’s teams battling through their respective single-elimination brackets, hoping to become national champions.

What does all of that really look like, and how does it compare to Division I and Division II? Let’s break it down:

What Is The Difference Between Division I, Division II And Division III?

While it would seem logical and easy enough for enrollment size to determine the division in which a school will compete—and the structure of college athletics generally does group schools based on size and comparable talent levels—that’s not exactly the case. 

It’s based on the number of sports the school intends to sponsor, with a minimum number required to even qualify for Division I. There also are specifications for the gender breakdown, how many people are on each team and who the teams play each year.

Logically, the school’s size, resources and number of students from which to draw ultimately do help determine what those numbers could look like, so Division I is comprised of the largest universities with the biggest budgets and student bodies.

Schools that opt for the lesser number of men’s and women’s sports—a second tier of required team numbers, contest and participant minimums, and financial aid restrictions—get to decide whether to apply for Division II or Division III. 

But wait, there’s more.

There are a few unique things about Division III, and those things may be the determining factors for schools that do have a choice.

• Approximately 80 percent of the Division III schools are private universities, and they do have the lowest average number of students across the three divisions.
• Division III schools are more focused on the academic aspects of the college experience, so there’s less games, practice and competition time required.
• The biggest, and most defining characteristic of the Division III level is that students do not receive any athletic scholarships—it’s not permitted.

Some may even argue that the latter elevates the enjoyment and lowers the pressure, since student-athletes don’t have to worry about earning, or maintaining, an athletic scholarship.

But, while the most resources and attention are given to the Division I level, does that make the competition any less intense for the Division III competitors? Not likely. 

When Was The First NCAA Division III Basketball Championship?

The first NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship was held in 1975 and included 30 teams split into eight regions. 

The first NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship was held in 1982 and featured 16 teams. 

How Many Teams Participate In The Division III Basketball Championship Events Now?

The number of participating teams for the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship has changed many times over the years. 

The inaugural edition in 1975 had 30 teams. There were 28 in 1976, and then it went back to 30. 

In 1980, there were 32 teams. In 1989, it expanded to 40. Finally, in 1995, the field ballooned to 64 teams split into four sectionals, but the change only lasted three years, before it was changed to 48. 

The number slowly increased again, until the full 64-team bracket returned in 2017.

The NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship needed just one year to double in size, as 32 teams participated in 1983. That number remained steady, though regional brackets were introduced in 1989. In 1994, 40 teams played. Then 64 in 1995.

Who Qualifies For The Division III Basketball Brackets?

Teams that qualify for the NCAA Division III Basketball Championship (men or women) fall into three groups: Pool A, Pool B and Pool C.

Pool A is all of the conference champions (44) who earn automatic bids.

Pool B is teams that are independents or members of a conference that does not have an automatic bid. If there are enough teams in Pool B, an automatic bid may be possible for that year. If not, all of those teams get included in Pool C and still have a chance to be selected.

Pool C is made up of teams from the auto-qualifying conferences that did not win their conference titles, plus any carryover from Pool B.

For the Division III Men’s Basketball Championship in 2023, there were 44 conference champions and 20 at-large bids selected from Pool C.

On the women’s side, there were 44 conference champions, one team from Pool B and 19 at-large selections from Pool C.

At-large selections are based on things such as win-loss percentage, strength of schedule, head-to-head games, how teams fared against common opponents and performance against ranked teams.

For many teams, the annual selection process is one of the most exciting—or heartbreaking—times of the year. It’s also when the teams first find out who they’ll be playing in the opening round and what the path to the title looks like.

Waiting for the show to go live! https://t.co/n0bDS95TQQ #d3hoops

— D3hoops/Patrick Coleman (@d3hoops) February 27, 2023

What Does The Championship Bracket Look Like?

Across the three NCAA levels, the 64-team brackets are situated into the four quadrants of 16 teams, grouped according to geographic proximity, as the priority. 

The brackets are single-elimination, which means the season is over for losing teams, and the winners advance to the next round.

Eventually, only one team will remain in each quadrant, and those four teams advance to the national semifinals, which traditionally are held at pre-determined neutral sites. At the Division I level, this is known as the Final Four.

The two semifinal winners earn the opportunity to play for the national championship. At the Division III level, there’s a likelihood the semifinals and the final will be played at the same location, but that’s not always the case.

With So Many Games Being Played In The Division III Playoffs, Where Are The Games Played?

For both tournaments—the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship and the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship—the first- and second-round games are played on the campus of one of the teams participating in each game. 

The 16 teams that survive the first two rounds advance to one of the four sectional events, hosted by one of the participating schools. 

Each sectional event includes four teams and a continuation of the bracket format. The two winning teams play each other in the sectional final for a chance to advance to the national semifinals.

Do The Division III Basketball Championship Events End At The Same Place Every Year?

No, the national semifinals and finals of the Division III basketball season are not held at the same location every year.

As with most NCAA championships, there is a bid process in place that allows interested venues and cities to bid for a chance to host the events.

The men’s side of Division III basketball has established a bit of tradition when it comes to crowning champions, and only a few locations have been used—Reading, Pennsylvania (1975, 1976), Rock Island, Illinois (1977-1981), Grand Rapids, Michigan (1982-1988), Springfield, Ohio (1989-1992), Buffalo, New York (1993-1995), Salem, Virginia (1996-2019), Atlanta (2013– championship only), Fort Wayne, Indiana (2021-2026).

The women’s tournament has moved around quite frequently and has not spent more than three years at any one location. 

In 2023, as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX, the women’s championship game for all three divisions was held at the site of the Division I Final Four (American Airlines Arena in Dallas). The Division III semifinals were held in Hartford, Connecticut. 

Do Division I and Division II Follow The Same Postseason Format?

The basic structure of the basketball postseason is relatively consistent across the three divisions—Division I, Division II and Division III.

There may be differences, however, in how teams qualify, as they don’t all have the same number of conferences or teams across Pool A, Pool B and Pool C.

The most noteworthy difference is that Division I tournaments actually start with 68 teams and a “First Four” sub-bracket that matches the four lowest seeds among the automatic qualifiers and the four lowest at-large teams. 

The four winning teams advance to the 64-team main event, and the losers are eliminated from contention. From there, everything is the same single-elimination format.

When Did Division I And Division II Hold Their First Championship Events?

The Division I men’s tournament first was held in 1939 and had eight teams. It kept expanding, until the modern 64-team format first was used in 1985. Having more than 64 teams started in 2001 for the men and 2022 for the women.

While there was a second collegiate division and postseason tournament as early as 1957, the first modern-era Division II Men’s Basketball Championship was held in 1974. It came after the three-division collegiate structure came to be in 1973.

The first Division I women’s tournament, now known as Women’s March Madness, was held in 1982.

The first Division II Women’s Basketball Championship was also held in 1982.

What Is The NIT? Is It Related To Division III?

Held during the same time frame as the NCAA Division I Men’s Championship, the NIT (National Invitation Tournament) includes the top Division I teams that didn’t make the NCAA tournament.

The NIT first was held in 1938 but didn’t gain the same traction as the NCAA version that kicked off a year later.

The NIT traditionally features just 32 teams and five rounds of competition. 

*From 1969 to 1996, there was a National Women’s Invitational Tournament, which returned in 1998 and has been known as the Women’s National Invitation Tournament since 1999. It has expanded to 64 teams. These events are not affiliated with the NIT.

In July 2023, however, the NCAA (which bought the rights to the NIT in 2005), announced it will host a formal Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, starting in 2024. It will follow the same 32-team format as the NIT and be open to Division I women’s programs.

Watch Division III Hoops Action All Season Long On FloHoops

Subscribe to the FloSports app and FloHoops to watch more action.

FloHoops Archived Footage

Video footage from past season is archived and stored in a video library for FloHoops subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscription.

Join The Conversation

Follow us on Twitter: @FloHoops

Follow us on Instagram: @flohoops

Like us on Facebook