Teams | 32 | ||||
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Finals site | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri | ||||
Champions | Texas Wesleyan (1st title) | ||||
Runner-up | Oklahoma City (5th title game) | ||||
Semifinalists |
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Coach of the year | Terry Waldrop (Texas Wesleyan) | ||||
Player of the year | Brandon Cole (John Brown) | ||||
Charles Stevenson Hustle Award | Trevor Meier (Oklahoma City) | ||||
Chuck Taylor MVP | Evan Patterson (Texas Wesleyan) | ||||
Top scorer | Willie Irick (Oklahoma City) (85 points) | ||||
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The 2006 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held from March 15 to 21 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. This was the 69th annual NAIA Division I basketball tournament and featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. [1]
The unranked Texas Wesleyan University Rams defeated the Oklahoma City University Stars by a score of 67 to 65. [2] 2006 marked the second year in a row an unranked team won the National Championship. Undeterred by this loss, the Stars went on to win the next two National Championship titles. The other teams that made it to the NAIA National Semifinals were Oklahoma Baptist University and Robert Morris (IL).
Bracket
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The 2007 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held from March 14 to 20 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. This was the 70th annual NAIA basketball tournament and features 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This tournament had the most total points scored for both teams in one game in the history of the NAIA tournament. Totaling 243pts when Concordia (CA) got 124pts and beat Robert Morris (IL) who has 119pts. That game went into 4 overtimes. Concordia would go on to be the 2007 runner-up to Oklahoma City University. Oklahoma City University would beat Concordia 79 to 71.
The 2008 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament was held from March 19 to 25 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 71st annual NAIA basketball tournament features 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 2005 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament was held from March 16 to 22 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The sixty-eighth annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The 2005 National Champions were the unranked John Brown University who defeated the 9th ranked Azusa Pacific University by a score of 65 to 55. The other NAIA National semifinalists were Carroll College (MT) and Robert Morris College (IL).
The 2004 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. This was the 67th annual NAIA DI basketball tournament and featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This was the third year the tournament was held in Kansas City. The 2004 NAIA national championship game featured the #1 ranked Cougars of Mountain State and the #6 ranked Eagles of Concordia University (CA). This match up was a repeat of the 2003 tournament. The Cougars defeated the Eagles 74–70. The other teams that rounded out the NAIA national semifinals were Georgetown College (KY) and University of Mobile, respectively.
The 2003 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held from March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 66th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The 2003 National Championship game would feature Concordia (CA) and Mountain State. That game would be the 6th championship game to go into overtime. The Eagles would defeat the Cougars by an overtime score of 88 to 84. The other teams making it to the NAIA national semifinals were Georgetown (KY), and McKendree.
The 2002 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. This was the first NAIA tournament back in Kansas City since 1993. The NAIA headquarters also relocated to Olathe, Kansas this year. The 65th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The 2002 champion was 2001's runner-up, University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. The Drovers faced Sooner Athletic Conference rival Oklahoma Baptist University in the championship game. It was the first time two teams from the Sooner Athletic Conference ever met in the national championship game. And the first SAC team to win the tournament since Oklahoma City University won in 1996. The Drovers rolled over the Bison 96–79. Finishing out the NAIA Semifinals were Azusa Pacific University and Barat College.
The 64th NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament was held in March at the Tulsa Convention Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was the second tournament held in the Tulsa Convention Center and the last tournament to be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The 64th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. 2001 would bring four new teams to the NAIA national semifinals. The first tournament since 1969 tournament to do so.. It surpasses the 15 year gap between a fresh set of semi-finalist that was between 1947-1969. It would be the only time this would happen outside of Kansas City.
The 72nd Buffalo Funds - NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held from March 18 to 24 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 72nd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The Heart of America Athletic Conference was the host conference for the tournament. This was the Heart of America Athletic Conference's first year as a Division I conference.
The 63rd NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held in March at the Tulsa Convention Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The 63rd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game featured Life University and Georgetown College. Life would defeat Georgetown by a score of 63 to 59.
The 1967 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 30th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. There were only 3 upsets in this tournament. The championship game featured St. Benedict's College (Kan.) and Oklahoma Baptist University. The Ravens would defeat the Biso 71–65. The 3rd place game featured Central Washington University defeating Morris Harvey College by a score of 106 to 92. 1967 was the final year of 21 straight tournaments to have a player make it on the all-time leading scorers list. The streak that began with Harold Haskins in 1947 ended with Al Tucker in 1967. This streak had peaked in 1957 when 7 all-timers played in one tournament. It is argued that this marked the end of the "golden age" of NAIA basketball. It was the third tournament won by the number one seed.
The Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player Award was created to honor the most outstanding player of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) men's basketball national tournaments. Established in 1939 and later named as an homage to the Chuck Taylor All-Stars, an iconic basketball shoe in the early 20th century, it has been awarded every year with the exceptions of 1944 due to World War II and 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Between the 1991–92 and 2019–20 seasons, the NAIA was split into Division I and Division II. Each division subsequently held their own national tournament, with MVPs awarded for them respectively. Starting with the 2020–21 season, the NAIA returned to non-divisional classifications.
The 1954 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 17th 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 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 2010 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 73rd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. In 2010, both Buffalo Funds and the City of Kansas City extended contracts with the NAIA to remain title sponsors and will keep the tournament in Kansas City at Municipal Auditorium until 2013. This was the second year that the Heart of America Conference was the tournament host.
The 2011 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 74th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The 2017 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 80th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The opening game round started on March 15, and the National Championship Game was played on March 21.
The 2012 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 75th annual NAIA basketball tournament features 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The opening game started on March 14, and the National Championship Game was played on March 20.
The 2013 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 76th annual NAIA basketball tournament features 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The opening game started on March 13, and the National Championship Game was played on March 19.