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.[1]
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| Teams | 48 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals site | Ford Center Evansville, Indiana | ||||
| Champions | Northwest Missouri State Bearcats (3rd title) | ||||
| Runner-up | West Texas A&M Buffaloes (1st title game) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
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| Winning coach | Ben McCollum (3rd title) | ||||
| MOP | Ryan Hawkins (NW Missouri State) | ||||
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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
editA 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.[2] Each region consisted of two automatic qualifiers (the teams who won their respective conference tournaments) and at-large bids.
Automatic bids (16)edit
*Conference moved out of its usual region. |
At-large bids (32)edit
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Bracket
editAtlantic Regional
edit| First round March 13, 2021 | Regional semifinals March 14, 2021 | Regional Finals March 16, 2021 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Hillsdale | 67 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Mercyhurst | 62 | 4 | Mercyhurst | 48 | |||||||||
| 5 | Fairmont State | 58 | 1 | Hillsdale | 61 | |||||||||
| 3 | West Liberty | 78 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Charleston (WV) | 63 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | West Liberty | 94 | 3 | West Liberty | 82 | |||||||||
| 6 | Malone | 89 | ||||||||||||
Central Regional
edit- Site: Aberdeen, South Dakota (Northern State)
| First round March 13, 2021 | Regional semifinals March 14, 2021 | Regional Finals March 16, 2021 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Northern State | 77 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Wayne State (NE) | 72 | 5 | MSU Moorhead | 65 | |||||||||
| 5 | MSU Moorhead | 84 | 1 | Northern State | 86 | |||||||||
| 2 | NW Missouri State | 91* | ||||||||||||
| 2 | NW Missouri State | 85 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Washburn | 72 | 3 | Washburn | 44 | |||||||||
| 6 | Missouri Western | 46 | ||||||||||||
East Regional
edit- Site: Albany, New York (Saint Rose)
| First round March 13, 2021 | Regional semifinals March 14, 2021 | Regional Finals March 16, 2021 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 95 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Dominican (NY) | 62 | 5 | Caldwell | 72 | |||||||||
| 5 | Caldwell | 65 | 1 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 70 | |||||||||
| 2 | Daemen | 71 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Daemen | 81 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Bloomfield | 71 | 3 | Bloomfield | 69 | |||||||||
| 6 | Nyack | 58 | ||||||||||||
Midwest Regional
edit- Site: Evansville, Indiana (Southern Indiana)
| First round March 13, 2021 | Regional semifinals March 14, 2021 | Regional Finals March 16, 2021 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Truman | 82 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Wayne State (MI) | 61 | 5 | Ashland | 63 | |||||||||
| 5 | Ashland | 76 | 1 | Truman | 65 | |||||||||
| 2 | Michigan Tech | 62 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Michigan Tech | 81 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Southern Indiana | 62 | 3 | Southern Indiana | 69 | |||||||||
| 6 | Lewis | 60 | ||||||||||||
South Regional
edit- Site: Valdosta, Georgia (Valdosta State)
| First round March 13, 2021 | Regional semifinals March 14, 2021 | Regional Finals March 16, 2021 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Flagler | 69 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Valdosta State | 75 | 5 | West Georgia | 53 | |||||||||
| 5 | West Georgia | 79 | 1 | Flagler | 89 | |||||||||
| 2 | Alabama Huntsville | 75 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Alabama Huntsville | 73 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Lee | 72 | 3 | Lee | 66 | |||||||||
| 6 | Georgia Southwestern | 69 | ||||||||||||
Southeast Regional
edit- Site: Harrogate, Tennessee (Lincoln Memorial)
| First round March 13, 2021 | Regional semifinals March 14, 2021 | Regional Finals March 16, 2021 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Belmont Abbey | 53 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Emmanuel | 80 | 4 | Emmanuel | 76 | |||||||||
| 5 | Queens (NC) | 78 | 4 | Emmanuel | 67 | |||||||||
| 2 | Lincoln Memorial | 103 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Lincoln Memorial | 80 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Carson-Newman | 63 | 6 | Tusculum | 66 | |||||||||
| 6 | Tusculum | 65* | ||||||||||||
South Central Regional
edit- Site: Lubbock, Texas (Lubbock Christian)
| First round March 13, 2021 | Regional semifinals March 14, 2021 | Regional Finals March 16, 2021 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | West Texas A&M | 82 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Southern Arkansas | 61 | 5 | Dallas Baptist | 65 | |||||||||
| 5 | Dallas Baptist | 83 | 1 | West Texas A&M | 101 | |||||||||
| 2 | Lubbock Christian | 92 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Lubbock Christian | 79 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Arkansas–Monticello | 57 | 6 | Oklahoma Baptist | 55 | |||||||||
| 6 | Oklahoma Baptist | 76 | ||||||||||||
West Regional
edit- Site: Golden, Colorado (Colorado Mines)
| First round March 12, 2021 | Regional semifinals March 13, 2021 | Regional Finals March 15, 2021 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Colorado Mesa | 54 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Point Loma | 73 | 5 | Northwest Nazarene | 74 | |||||||||
| 5 | Northwest Nazarene | 85 | 5 | Northwest Nazarene | 52 | |||||||||
| 2 | Colorado Mines | 84 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Colorado Mines | 83 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Biola | 76 | 3 | Biola | 52 | |||||||||
| 6 | Fresno Pacific | 74 | ||||||||||||
Elite Eight
edit- Site: Ford Center, Evansville, Indiana
| Elite Eight March 24, 2021 | Final Four March 25, 2021 | National championship March 27, 2021 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | West Texas A&M | 97 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Daemen | 83 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | West Texas A&M | 87 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Lincoln Memorial | 86 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Colorado Mines | 76 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Lincoln Memorial | 90 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | West Texas A&M | 54 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | NW Missouri State | 80 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Flagler | 70 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Truman | 69 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | NW Missouri State | 77 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Flagler | 46 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | West Liberty | 77 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | NW Missouri State | 98 | ||||||||||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Cavadi, Wayne (August 6, 2019). "2019–2022 future DII NCAA Championship sites". NCAA.com. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
- ^ "Report Of The NCAA Division II Men's And Women's Basketball Committees January 28, 2021, Videoconference" (PDF). NCAA. Retrieved November 5, 2021.