| Teams | 8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals site | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri | ||||
| Champions | Central Missouri State (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | Morningside (Iowa) (1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
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The 1937 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The first annual National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) basketball tournament featured eight teams playing in a single-elimination format. [1] In 1938, it would expand to its current size of 32 teams.
This tournament is unique because it was started two years prior to the NCAA men's tournament and one year before the National Invitation Tournament, and all the teams play over a series of six days instead of several weekends. The compactness of the tournament has given it the nickname "college basketball's toughest tournament".
It began when Dr. James Naismith, Emil S. Liston, Frank Cramer, and local leaders formed the National College Basketball Tournament, which was staged at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The goal of the tournament was to establish a forum for small colleges and universities to determine a national basketball champion. [2]
The first championship game featured Central Missouri State University defeating Morningside College (Iowa) 35–24. It is also the lowest scoring championship game in tournament history.
Many of the records set by the 1937 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:
| First round | Semifinals | NAIA national championship | |||||||||
| Southwestern (KS) | 54 | ||||||||||
| Dakota Wesleyan | 26 | ||||||||||
| Southwestern (KS) | 24 | ||||||||||
| Central Missouri State | 38 | ||||||||||
| Luther | 38 | ||||||||||
| Central Missouri State | 56 | ||||||||||
| Central Missouri State | 35 | ||||||||||
| Morningside (Iowa) | 24 | ||||||||||
| Arkansas State Teachers | 34 | ||||||||||
| St. Benedict (Kan.) | 33 | ||||||||||
| Arkansas State Teachers | 33 | NAIA Third Place | |||||||||
| Moringside | 40 | ||||||||||
| Baker (Kan.) | 21 | Southwestern (Kan.) | 46 | ||||||||
| Morningside (Iowa) | 29 | Arkansas State Teachers | 38 | ||||||||
The third place game featured the losing teams from the national semifinals to determine 3rd and 4th places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.
The 1938 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The second annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1939 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 3rd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This was also the year the NCAA basketball tournament was started.
The 1940 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 4th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1941 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 5th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1942 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 6th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1943 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 7th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game featured Southeast Missouri State defeating Northwest Missouri State 34–32.
The 1945 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 8th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 16 teams playing in a single-elimination format, instead of the normal 32. It is the only tournament to feature only 16 teams.
The 1946 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 9th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1947 NAIA National Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 10th annual men's basketball tournament of what is now the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1948 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 11th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1949 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 12th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1953 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 16th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1958 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 21st annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1959 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 22nd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The 1959 Tournament is the first tournament to use the 16-seed system, which was used until the 2015.
The 1960 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 23rd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 1961 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 24th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game featured the 13th seeded Grambling and the third seeded Georgetown. For the first time since seeding, in 1958, the third-place game featured the first and second seeds, Northern Michigan, and Westminster.
The 1962 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 25th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. It would be the last tournament without a formal leading scorer and rebounder awards presented. This was also the first tournament since seeding began to feature the top two teams in the Championship Game. The number 2 seeded Prairie View A&M (Texas) beat Westminster (Pa.) 62 to 53.
The 1965 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 28th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This is the first tournament since 1947 tournament to feature four new teams to the NAIA Semifinals.. It was the longest gap up until it was eclipsed by the gap between 1969-2001 which featured 1 or more repeating semi-finalist each year. It was the second time the number one seed has won the tournament.
The 1969 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 32nd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This is the first tournament since 1965 tournament to feature four new teams to the NAIA Semifinals. This would not happen again until 2001.
The 1971 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 34th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.