The NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Committee is set to announce the 64-team field for the 2018 NCAA DII Men’s Basketball Championship at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, March 4.
Automatic qualification will be awarded to the winners of the 24 conferences that participate in the 64-team tournament. The remaining 40 teams are selected at large by the committee.
Eight regional tournaments, consisting of eight teams each, begin play on March 10 and play through March 13. The regional champions then head to the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the 2018 NCAA Division II Men’s Elite Eight. Play tips off in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, March 20 and concludes with the championship game on Saturday, March 24.
Northwest Missouri State enters the tournament as the reigning champions. The Bearcats defeated Fairmont State 71-61 to become the first program in DII history to win the football and basketball championship in the same year. They are looking to become the first team to repeat as tournament champions since the 1993 and 1994 Cal State Bakersfield squads.
Conferences that will receive automatic qualification are:
| CONFERENCE | SCHOOL |
|---|---|
| California Collegiate Athletic Association | |
| Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference | |
| Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association | |
| Conference Carolinas | |
| East Coast Conference | |
| Great American Conference | |
| Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | |
| Great Lakes Valley Conference | |
| Great Midwest Athletic Conference | |
| Great Northwest Athletic Conference | |
| Gulf South Conference | |
| Heartland Conference | |
| Lone Star Conference | |
| Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association | |
| Mountain East Conference | |
| Northeast-10 Conference | |
| Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference | |
| Pacific West Conference | |
| Peach Belt Conference | |
| Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference | |
| Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | |
| South Atlantic Conference | |
| Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | |
| Sunshine State Conference |
