By William Armstead
Indianapolis, IN — Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia will host the first two rounds of the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament this Friday and Saturday as the 64‑team bracket was revealed Monday afternoon. WPI will be traveling to Virginia to take on Amherst.
The Crimson and Gray will face regional foe Amherst in the first game of a double header occurring on Friday at 5pm. WPI’s rivals, Worcester State, will take on Mary Washington after at 7pm. The winners will play each other on Saturday at 7:30pm, with the victor advancing to a single third‑round contest the following weekend.
WPI (21‑5), the 2025‑26 NEWMAC Men’s Basketball Regular Season Champions, earned an at-large bid after falling short in their conference tournament to Wheaton in the semifinal.
The Engineers’ now have 14 NCAA Tournament berths in the last 22 seasons under 25‑year head coach Chris Bartley. WPI is 12‑16 all‑time in NCAA Tournament play. They have posted a 5‑2 record in their last two appearances, with an Elite Eight appearance in 2022 and making it to the Sweet 16 in 2025.
For Amherst, (18‑7) is their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019, but have been very successful in the tournament in the past. The Mammoths have reached seven Final Fours and captured national championships in 2007 and 2013. The Engineers beat the Mammoths in regular‑season tournament meetings in 2022 and 2023.
Mary Washington (24‑3) captured the Coast‑to‑Coast Athletic Conference Championship with a 30 point blowout win over 10th‑ranked Christopher Newport in Santa Cruz, California. The Eagles won two games in last year’s NCAA Tournament, but finally fell to Emory (GA) in the Sweet 16.
Worcester State (15-12) started the season 2-9 after a difficult non-conference schedule, but fought back to reach Sunday’s MASCAC Tournament championship game, where the Lancers defeated Westfield State 77‑74 to claim their third conference crown in four years. WPI topped Worcester State 81‑73 in an early‑season non‑league matchup