Current season, competition or edition: 2024 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament | |
 | |
| Sport | Basketball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1957 |
| No. of teams | 64 (reduced to 48 for 2021 only) |
| Country | NCAA Division II (USA) |
| Most recent champion(s) | Minnesota State (1st title) (2024) |
| Most titles | Kentucky Wesleyan (8 titles) |
| TV partner(s) | CBS (Finals) CBS Sports Network (Semifinals) |
| Official website | NCAA.com |
The NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament (officially styled by the NCAA as a "Championship" instead of a "Tournament") is an annual championship tournament for colleges and universities that are members of NCAA Division II, a grouping of schools in the United States (plus one school in Canada) that are generally smaller than the higher-profile institutions grouped in Division I. The tournament, originally known as the NCAA College Division Basketball Championship, was established in 1957, immediately after the NCAA subdivided its member schools into the University Division (today's Division I) and College Division. It became the Division II championship in 1974, when the NCAA split the College Division into the limited-scholarship Division II and the non-scholarship Division III, and added the "Men's" designation in 1982 when the NCAA began sponsoring a Division II women's championship.
Like all other NCAA basketball divisions for men and women, the champion is decided in a single-elimination tournament. The Division II tournament normally involves 64 teams. The Division II tournaments for men and women differ in a major respect from those in Divisions I and III. The finals of both Division II tournaments consist of eight teams, instead of the four in the other two divisions. The eight survivors of regional play meet in the Elite Eight at a predetermined site.