The Division III men's basketball NCAA Tournament is expanding from 59 to 60 teams this season, according to a memo the association sent Division III member schools this afternoon.

&&g-boxr&&This means four teams will receive first-round byes, instead of the previous five. The number of teams in the tournament is a ratio of the number of Division III member schools that sponsor men's basketball and is set as one tournament spot for every 6.5 programs.

There are 39 automatic bids for the 2009 tournament, with the Northern Athletics Conference qualifying for an automatic bid for the first time after the NATHC's two-year waiting period. There are four bids set aside in Pool B for teams not in one of those 39 conferences, with the remaining 17 bids (Pool C) as true at-large berths.