College Basketball Teams Ineligible for the 2023 NCAA Tournament

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Merrimack forward Ziggy Reid (23) drives to the basket against Fairleigh Dickinson forward Sean Moore (11) during the second half of Northeast Conference men's NCAA college basketball championship game, Tuesday, March 7, 2023, in North Andover, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Andrew Doughty @DoughtyBetMGM Mar 12, 2023, 1:36 PM
  • Eleven teams are ineligible as they transition to Division I.
  • Two other teams are effectively ineligible as independents.

Eleven teams are officially ineligible for the 2023 NCAA Tournament, all of which are ineligible as they transition to Division I.

There are 363 college basketball teams competing in the 2022-23 NCAA Division I men’s basketball season. But not only 351 of those teams are eligible for the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Teams Ineligible for the 2023 NCAA Tournament

Here are the 11 teams ineligible for March Madness this year:

  • Bellarmine
  • Lindenwood
  • Merrimack
  • Queens (NC)
  • Southern Indiana
  • St. Thomas 
  • Stonehill
  • Tarleton
  • Texas A&M-Commerce
  • UC San Diego
  • Utah Tech

Merrimack is the only one of the 11 to win its conference tournament. For the second time in four years, the Warriors won the NEC Tournament but aren’t eligible for the conference’s automatic bid.

Two more teams are unofficially ineligible as they play the 2022-23 season as independents, Chicago State and Hartford. Both teams are buried in the NET Rankings and have no realistic chance of earning an at-large bid on Selection Sunday.

Chicago State announced in January 2021 its plan to leave the WAC, a move that officially happened in June 2022. The school, however, hasn’t announced a future conference for its 15 NCAA sports, including men’s basketball. 

As part of Hartford’s transition to Division III – which began during the 2021-22 academic year, their final year in the America East – the Hawks will play this season as an independent before moving to the Commonwealth Coast Conference in 2023-24.

Nine teams were officially ineligible for the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Two more teams, James Madison and UIC, were unofficially ineligible after respective conferences at the time – CAA and Horizon League, respectively – banned them from the conference tournaments as a punitive punishment for impending departures to the Sun Belt and Missouri Valley, respectively, which effectively rendered them helpless in earning bids into the 68-team field.

You can view updated tournament odds for March Madness at the online sportsbook.

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About the Author

Andrew Doughty

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Andrew Doughty is the Web Content Lead for BetMGM. A graduate of the University of Kansas, he previously wrote for Sports Illustrated and HERO Sports.

Andrew Doughty is the Web Content Lead for BetMGM. A graduate of the University of Kansas, he previously wrote for Sports Illustrated and HERO Sports.