INDIANAPOLIS---The NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Committee announced today the field of 48 teams for the 2004 Division III Men's Basketball Championship.

Thirty-six conferences have been granted automatic qualification for the 2004 championship. Six independent teams and six other at-large teams from automatic qualifying conferences who did not receive their conference automatic qualification were selected by using specific selection criteria approved by the Division III Championships Committee.

Sixteen first-round games, two teams each, will be conducted Thursday, March 4; 16 second-round games, two teams each, will be conducted Saturday, March 6. Second-round winners will advance to one of four sectional-round sites March 12-13. Winners of the four sectional games will advance to the finals March 19 and 20. All games, except the finals, will be played on the campuses of competing institutions. The finals will be conducted at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia.

Conferences receiving automatic qualification are:

Conference Automatic Qualifier Team American Southwest Conference Sul Ross State (19-8) Capital Athletic Conference Catholic (23-5) Centennial Conference Franklin & Marshall (24-3) City University of New York Athletic Conference Lehman (22-6) College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Illinois Wesleyan (19-6) Commonwealth Conference Elizabethtown (18-8) Commonwealth Coast Conference Endicott (23-4) Empire 8 Athletic Conference St. John Fisher (21-6) Freedom Conference Lycoming (20-7) Great Northeast Athletic Conference Johnson & Wales (21-7) Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Hanover (26-1) Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Buena Vista (24-4) Lake Michigan Conference Lakeland (16-12) Little East Conference Keene State (23-5) Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference Salem State (23-4) Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Calvin (19-9) Midwest Conference Lawrence (21-4) Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Gustavus Adolphus (22-5) New England Small College Athletic Conference Williams (26-1) New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference Babson (20-7) New Jersey Athletic Conference New Jersey City (21-6) North Coast Athletic Conference Wooster (24-3) Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference Benedictine (Illinois) (20-7) Northwest Conference Puget Sound (23-2) Ohio Athletic Conference John Carroll (22-5) Old Dominion Athletic Conference Hampden-Sydney (24-4) Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Gwynedd Mercy (25-2) Skyline Conference Old Westbury (19-8) St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Maryville (Missouri) (15-10) Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Pomona-Pitzer (18-7) Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Trinity (Texas) (24-4) State University of New York Athletic Conference Potsdam State (18-10) University Athletic Association Rochester (24-1) Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association Hamilton (19-7) USA South Athletic Conference Methodist (18-9) Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Wisconsin-Stevens Point (23-5) 

For more information about the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship, log on to www.ncaasports.com.