Men's Basketball | 3/2/2026 1:33:00 PM

NCAA Division III Bracket

Indianapolis, Ind. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse men's basketball team will host the opening two rounds in the 2026 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championship, the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Committee announced Monday.
 
UWL will host a four-team regional on Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7 in Mitchell Hall.
 
UWL (22-6) hosts Hope College, Mich. (18-9) in the first round March 6 at 6:50 p.m. while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, Calif. (22-4) faces Aurora University, Ill. (23-5) in the other first round game at 4:20 p.m.

The winners advance to the second round Saturday, March 7 at 6:50 p.m. 
 
UWL, ranked 18th on last week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll and 13th in the National Power Index (NPI), earned an automatic bid to the NCAA III Championships after capturing the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament (presented by Culver's) with a 81-78 victory at UW-Whitewater on February 28. It marked UWL's first conference tournament title in school history.

UWL is making its fifth appearance in the NCAA III Tournament, advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time in school history last season. The Eagles opened last year's national tournament with a 120-93 victory over Greenville University (Ill.), earning their first NCAA Division III tournament victory since 2022. UWL followed with a 77-67 win over St. Norbert College (Wis.) in the second round to advance to the NCAA III Tournament Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. The opening two games were held at The La Crosse Center.

The Eagles earned a 72-65 home victory over Illinois Wesleyan University in Mitchell Hall in the NCAA III Sweet 16 before falling 80-66 to Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) in the NCAA Division III Elite Eight. 

UWL is 4-4 all-time in the NCAA III Championships, earning its first win in program history with a 90-86 victory over Heidelberg University (Ohio) in the 2022 first round. The Eagles fell, 65-56, at Illinois Wesleyan in the second round in 2022. UWL made its first trip to the NCAA Division III Championships in 2006, falling 79-71 to Calvin College (Mich.) in the first round. The Eagles also appeared in the 2019 national tournament, losing 79-66 to the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) in the first round. 

The Eagles received one of 43 automatic bids granted to conference champions as "Pool A" squads in this year's 64-team NCAA III Championships field. The remaining 21 teams are selected from those teams in conferences with automatic bids that did not win their conference's automatic qualification (Pool C).  The teams are geographically paired, whenever possible.

Sixteen sites will host four teams for first and second-round competition Friday-Saturday, March 6-7.  Second-round winners will advance to the third round Friday-Saturday, March 13-14.

The national quarterfinals and semifinals will be held Thursday, March 19 and Saturday, March 21 in Fort Wayne, Indiana with the national title game scheduled for Sunday, April 5 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

UWL and Hope (Mich.) will be meeting for third time in school history. The Flying Dutchmen have won the previous two meetings, including a 65-47 victory in La Crosse on November 20, 2015 and a 80-75 win in Holland, Michigan on December 3, 2016.

CMS (Calif.) earned an at-large bid to this year's NCAA Division III Championships after falling, 78-69, to Chapman University (Calif.) in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament Semifinals on February 27. CMS (Calif.) was ranked 15th on last week's D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll and 27th in the NPI. 

Aurora (Ill.) captured the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament title with a 67-66 win over Marian University (Wis.) in the championship game on February 27.

JT Gritzmacher is in his third season as UWL's head coach, compiling a 61-24 overall record and 29-13 in the WIAC. The Eagles finished 25-6 overall and 12-2 in the WIAC in 2024-25, setting a single-season school record with its 25 overall victories. The 12 league wins were the most since finishing 12-4 in 2006-07. UWL advanced to the WIAC Tournament Championship game for the third time in school history.

UWL earned an at-large bid to the 2025 NCAA Division III Championships, advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.

Sam Grieger is averaging 25.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game this season. He has scored in double figures in all 28 games with at least 25 points in 16 contests.  Grieger scored a school record 46 points at UW-Oshkosh on January 7, breaking the record of 43. His 722 points this year is a single-season school record, breaking Tony Mane's record of 666 in 2010-11.  Grieger has also set single-season school records in free throws made (192) and attempted (224).

JJ Paider is averaging 14.8 points and team-high 7.9 rebounds while shooting 59.7% (148-of-248) from the field. He is second on the team in steals (37) and third in assists (55) while scored in double figures in 23 games. Paider has eight double-doubles. His 678 rebounds ranks sixth in school history. Paider, who has played in 102 career game with 88 starts, is one of five players in UWL history to record at least 1,000 career points and 650 rebounds.

Averaging 15.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, Dustin Derousseau leads UWL in three-point field goals made (42) and attempted (131). He also leads UWL in blocks (40) and steals (52) and is second in assists (77). Derousseau has scored in double figures in 22 games and currently ranks second in career blocks (100) and tied for third in career assists (140). Derousseau has played in 97 career contests with 90 starts.

Three other WIAC teams earned at-large bid to the NCAA III Championships. UW-Stevens Point faces the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) in the first round at Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) while UW-Platteville travels to the University of Chicago (Ill.) for the opening round versus Otterbein College (Ohio). UW-Whitewater plays Loras College (Iowa) at Washington University-St. Louis (Mo.) in the first round.