The 1966 NCAA College Division basketball tournament involved 36 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA College Division basketball as a culmination of the 1965–66 NCAA College Division men's basketball season.
Tommy Niland, head coach of Le Moyne, which had received an at-large berth to each of the previous two NCAA tournaments, said that he was generally in favor of automatic qualification for the tournament, but, with one less at-large bid available, and the NCAA limiting how many teams from each area of the country enter the tournament, it would now be more difficult for teams in the northeast to be selected.
Niland pointed out that none of the schools in the SUNYAC had ever been selected to play in the NCAA tournament in the past and that the conference might not be strong enough to merit an automatic bid.
[5] The expansion of the tournament would make it less likely that overflow District 1 teams would need to be sent to the Mideast Regional, as had been the case with Le Moyne and Ithaca in 1964, and Buffalo in 1965.
*indicates a tie Location: McClendon–McDougald Gym Host: North Carolina College at Durham Location: Bollman Center Host: Albright College Location: Memorial Hall Host: Municipal University of Akron Location: North Gym Host: Fresno State College Location: SIU Arena Host: Southern Illinois University Location: Indian Fieldhouse Host: Arkansas State College Location: Hyslop Sports Center Host: University of North Dakota Note: The first-round game between North Dakota and Colorado State College was delayed a day to March 6; the Valparaiso/Saint Procopius game was played in Moorhead, Minnesota on March 5; and the third-place game was cancelled entirely.