INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. --- It has been three year since the NCAA last crowned a Division III national champion. The ODAC will be represented by the one of the favorites to hoist the next trophy as Randolph-Macon College learned its location and path to a potential NCAA crown with the announcement of the 64-team field on Monday afternoon.

Each NCAA tournament field is broken down into three potential pools of qualifiers. Pool "A" is comprised of teams that earn automatic bids by winning their conference titles. Randolph-Macon is one of 44 teams in the bracket to earn automatic entry. Pool "B" is reserved for those teams that are independent or play in conferences that do not feature automatic qualification. There are zero Pool "B" bids in this year's field.

Pool "C" includes all remaining teams that sponsor men's basketball that were not included in the national field from Pool "A" or Pool "B." It is from Pool "C" that the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Committee makes its at-large selection to fill out the remainder of the field. A total of 20 schools received at-large entry to the committee.

RELATED: NCAA Release | Interactive Bracket | Printable Bracket | Selection Show

Randolph-Macon (27-1) features in the lower-right quadrant of the bracket. The Yellow Jackets, ranked #1 in Division III by D3hoops.com for much of the season, will serve as host of a four-team pod that will play through the first and second rounds. R-MC will open with Mitchell College (17-10) at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday, March 4. The Mariners are making their third appearance in the national tournament. They won the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) title to earn their tournament position.

Also traveling to Ashland will be DeSales University and Babson College. The Bulldogs (22-5) earned an at-large bid after falling to Lycoming College in the semifinals of the MAC Freedom tournament. The Beavers (18-7), winners of the 2017 NCAA Division III title, are also an at-large choice after falling to Emerson College in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) semifinals. DeSales and Babson kickoff play in Crenshaw Gymnasium at 4:30 p.m. ET on Friday.

The winners of Friday's first round games will meet on Saturday, March 5, at 7:00 p.m. ET in the second round. The winner of that contest will join the winners of 15 other four team pods in the sectional rounds. Those games are set for Friday and Saturday, March 11-12 at times and locations yet to be determined.

The national championship series is slated for Friday and Saturday, March 18-19 in Fort Wayne, Ind., at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Manchester University will serve as the host institution.

For more information, visit the websites of any of the participating schools. You can also go to the home of the ODAC on the Internet at www.odaconline.com. Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.