NAIA men's basketball championship

The NAIA men's basketball national championship has been held annually by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics since 1937 to determine the national champion of men's college basketball among its members in the United States and Canada.

NAIA men's basketball championship

Current season, competition or edition: 2023 NAIA men's basketball tournament
Formerly	National college basketball tournament (1937–1981)
Sport	College basketball
Founded	1937
Founder	James Naismith
Motto	Passion. Tradition. History.
Divisions	1 2 (1992–2020)
No. of teams	64 (2022–present) 32 (1992–2020) 48 (2021)
Venue(s)	Municipal Auditorium (1937–1974, 2002–present) Kemper Arena (1975–1993) Mabee Center (1994–1998) Reynolds Center (1999) Tulsa Convention Center (2000–2001) Montgomery Fieldhouse (1992–1998) Idaho Center (1998–1999) Keeter Gymnasium (2000–2017) Sanford Pentagon (2018–2020)
Most recent champion(s)	Freed–Hardeman
Most titles	D-I: Oklahoma City (6) D-II: Bethel (IN), Cornerstone, Indiana Wesleyan, and Oregon Tech (3 each)
TV partner(s)	CBS College Sports Network (national) ESPN 3 (national) TWC Sports Channel (Kansas City area) Victory Sports Network (national)
Related competitions	NAIA women's basketball championship
Official website	naia.org/sports/mbkb

The tournament was established by James Naismith to crown a national champion for smaller colleges and universities and has been held every year since, with the exceptions of 1944 (due to World War II) and 2020 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Since 2022, the tournament has featured 64 teams, with teams beginning play at one of sixteen regional sites with the winners of those regionals playing at the final venue.

From 1992 to 2020, the NAIA sponsored two championships, one for its Division I members and another for those in its Division II. The Division I tournament was played in Kansas City, Missouri while the Division II tournament moved locations several times (it finished, in 2020, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota). During this time, the NAIA tournaments featured 32 teams with the entire events contested at one location in one week (rather than multiple locations over a series of weekends).

After the 2020 tournaments were cancelled, however, they were merged back into a single tournament, which initially featured 48 teams in 2021 before expanding to 64 teams in 2022.

All tournament games can be watched online through the official NAIA provider StretchInternet.

History

The Men's Basketball Championship is mostly played at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. It has been held in Kansas City every year since the tournament began except from 1994 to 2001, when it was played in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and in 2020, when no tournament was held. Kansas City will continue to host until at least 2024.

In 2018, the NAIA announced a new format for the 2021 tournament after the merger of D-I and D-II. Under the new format, the men's and women's tournaments each involve 64 teams (the first post-COVID tournaments in 2021 had 48 teams). The first two rounds are played at 16 separate sites, with only the 16 winners at these sites advancing to Kansas City.

The tournament MVP has been presented with the Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player award since 1939. In 1948, the NAIA became the first national organization to open their intercollegiate postseason to black student-athletes due primarily to the media attention surrounding the Manhatten Jaspers. Manhattan, who had an all-white team, learned of the NAIA rule that prohibited blacks from participating in the tournament, and after asking the NAIA to rescind the rule, the NAIA refused and Manhattan withdrew from the tournament. "The battle might have ended there but for a man named Harry Henshel, who was a member of the U.S. Olympic basketball committee. One of the reasons that the NAIA tournament was so prestigious was that the champion was invited to compete at the Olympic trials in New York City in late March. (The other teams invited were the two NCAA finalists, three teams from the Amateur Athletic Union, the winner of the National Invitation Tournament, and a YMCA team.)" After reading in the New York papers that blacks could not participate in the tournament, Henshel suggested to the media that the NAIA national champion be eliminated from Olympic consideration. NAIA officials read Hershel’s statement in the papers and quickly took a telegraphic poll amongst its members the following day that rescinded the racial ban. In 1947, Coach John Wooden of Indiana State refused the invitation to the NAIA National Tournament primarily because Clarence J. Walker, the only black player on his team could not participate. Because of the stance taken by Manhattan and Harry Hansel, in 1948, Coach Wooden was able to take Walker to the tournament who became the first African-American student-athlete to play in the NAIA tournament. Walker, a vital role player, helped the Sycamores finish as the NAIA's national finalist. In 1957, Tennessee State became the first historically black college to win a national championship, and the first team to win three consecutive tournaments. As of 2017, Kentucky State is the only other school to do so (1970, 1971, 1972). Oklahoma City holds the record for the most tournament championships with six. OCU also holds the record for most national championship titles in NAIA women's basketball.

Results

• From 1937 to 1991, it was a single division
• From 1992, it became the "Division I", returning to a single division in 2021.

NAIA men's basketball championships
Ed.	Year	Champion	Score	Runner-up	Venue	City
1	1937	Central Missouri State	35–24	Morningside	Municipal Auditorium	Kansas City, Missouri
2	1938	Central Missouri State	45–30	Roanoke
3	1939	Southwestern (KS)	32–31	San Diego State
4	1940	Tarkio	52–31	San Diego State
5	1941	San Diego State	36–32	Murray State
6	1942	Hamline	33–31	Southeastern Oklahoma State
7	1943	Southeast Missouri State	34–32	Northwest Missouri State
–	1944	(No Tournament held)
8	1945	Loyola (LA)	49–36	Pepperdine	Municipal Auditorium	Kansas City, Missouri
9	1946	Southern Illinois	49–40	Indiana State
10	1947	Marshall	73–59	Mankato State
11	1948	Louisville	82–70	Indiana State
12	1949	Hamline	57–46	Regis
13	1950	Indiana State	61–47	East Central
14	1951	Hamline	69–61	Millikin
15	1952	Southwest Missouri State	73–64	Murray State
16	1953	Southwest Missouri State	79–71	Hamline
17	1954	St. Benedict's (KS)	62–56	Western Illinois
18	1955	East Texas State	71–54	Southeastern Oklahoma State
19	1956	McNeese State	60–55	Texas Southern
20	1957	Tennessee A&I	92–73	Southeastern Oklahoma State
21	1958	Tennessee A&I	85–73	Western Illinois
22	1959	Tennessee A&I	97–87	Pacific Lutheran
23	1960	Southwest Texas State	66–44	Westminster (PA)
24	1961	Grambling	95–75	Georgetown (KY)
25	1962	Prairie View A&M	62–53	Westminster (PA)
26	1963	Pan American	73–62	Western Carolina
27	1964	Rockhurst	66–56	Pan American
28	1965	Central State (OH)	85–51	Oklahoma Baptist
29	1966	Oklahoma Baptist	88–59	Georgia Southern
30	1967	St. Benedict's (KS)	71–65	Oklahoma Baptist
31	1968	Central State (OH)	51–48	Fairmont State (WV)
32	1969	Eastern New Mexico	99–76	Maryland–Eastern Shore
33	1970	Kentucky State	79–71	Central Washington
34	1971	Kentucky State	102–82	Eastern Michigan
35	1972	Kentucky State	71–62	Wisconsin–Eau Claire
36	1973	Guilford	99–96	Maryland–Eastern Shore
37	1974	West Georgia	97–79	Alcorn State
38	1975	Grand Canyon	65–54	Midwestern State	Kemper Arena
39	1976	Coppin State	96–91	Henderson State
40	1977	Texas Southern	71–44	Campbell
41	1978	Grand Canyon	79–75	Kearney State
42	1979	Drury	60–54	Henderson State
43	1980	Cameron	84–77	Alabama State
44	1981	Bethany Nazarene	86–85 OT	Alabama-Huntsville
45	1982	South Carolina–Spartanburg	51–38	Biola
46	1983	College of Charleston	57–53	West Virginia Wesleyan
47	1984	Fort Hays State	48–46 OT	Wisconsin–Stevens Point
48	1985	Fort Hays State	82–80 OT	Wayland Baptist
49	1986	David Lipscomb	67–54	Arkansas-Monticello
50	1987	Washburn	79–77	West Virginia State
51	1988	Grand Canyon	88–86 OT	Auburn Montgomery
52	1989	St. Mary's (TX)	61–58	East Central
53	1990	Birmingham–Southern	88–80	Wisconsin–Eau Claire
54	1991	Oklahoma City	77–74	Central Arkansas
55	1992	Oklahoma City	82–73 OT	Central Arkansas
56	1993	Hawaii Pacific	88–83	Oklahoma Baptist
57	1994	Oklahoma City	99–81	Life	Mabee Center	Tulsa, Oklahoma
58	1995	Birmingham–Southern	92–76	Pfeiffer
59	1996	Oklahoma City	86–80	Georgetown (KY)
60	1997	Life	73–64	Oklahoma Baptist
61	1998	Georgetown (KY)	83–69	Southern Nazarene
62	1999	Life	63–60	Mobile	Donald W. Reynolds Center
63	2000	Life	61–59	Georgetown (KY)	Tulsa Convention Center
64	2001	Faulkner	63–59	USAO
65	2002	USAO	96–79	Oklahoma Baptist	Municipal Auditorium	Kansas City, Missouri
66	2003	Concordia–Irvine	88–84 OT	Mountain State
67	2004	Mountain State	74–70	Concordia–Irvine
68	2005	John Brown	65–55	Azusa Pacific
69	2006	Texas Wesleyan	67–65	Oklahoma City
70	2007	Oklahoma City	79–71	Concordia–Irvine
71	2008	Oklahoma City	75–72	Mountain State
72	2009	Rocky Mountain	77–61	Columbia (MO)
73	2010	Oklahoma Baptist	84–83	Azusa Pacific
74	2011	Pikeville	83–76 OT	Mountain State
75	2012	Concordia–Irvine	72–69	Oklahoma Baptist
76	2013	Georgetown (KY)	88–62	Southwestern Assemblies of God
77	2014	Vanguard	70–65	Emmanuel (GA)
78	2015	Dalton State	71–53	Westmont
79	2016	Mid-America Christian	100–99 OT	Georgetown (KY)
80	2017	Texas Wesleyan	86–76	Life
81	2018	Graceland	83–80 OT	LSU–Alexandria
82	2019	Georgetown (KY)	68–48	Carroll (MT)
–	2020	(No tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic)
83	2021	Shawnee State	74–68	Lewis–Clark State	Municipal Auditorium	Kansas City, Missouri
84	2022	Loyola (LA)	71–56	Talladega
85	2023	College of Idaho	73–71	Indiana Tech
86	2024	Freed–Hardeman	71–67	Langston

Notes

Champions

• Division II titles are not included in this list. Schools in italics are no longer in the NAIA.

Team	Championships	Finals record	Winning years
Oklahoma City	6	6–1	1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2007, 2008
Hamline	3	3–1	1942, 1949, 1951
Tennessee A&I	3	3–0	1957, 1958, 1959
Kentucky State	3	3–0	1970, 1971, 1972
Grand Canyon	3	3–0	1975, 1978, 1988
Life	3	3–2	1997, 1999, 2000
Georgetown (KY)	3	3–4	1998, 2013, 2019
Central Missouri State	2	2–0	1937, 1938
Loyola (LA)	2	2–0	1945, 2022
Southwest Missouri State	2	2–0	1952, 1953
St. Benedict's (KS) (Benedictine)	2	2–0	1954, 1967
Central State (OH)	2	2–0	1965, 1968
Oklahoma Baptist	2	2–6	1966, 2010
Fort Hays State	2	2–0	1984, 1985
Birmingham–Southern	2	2–0	1990, 1995
Concordia–Irvine	2	2–2	2003, 2012
Texas Wesleyan	2	2–0	2006, 2017
Southwestern (KS)	1	1–0	1939
Tarkio	1	1–0	1940
San Diego State	1	1–2	1941
Southeast Missouri State	1	1–0	1943
Southern Illinois	1	1–0	1946
Marshall	1	1–0	1947
Louisville	1	1–0	1948
Indiana State	1	1–2	1950
East Texas State	1	1–0	1955
McNeese State	1	1–0	1956
Southwest Texas State	1	1–0	1960
Grambling	1	1–0	1961
Prairie View A&M	1	1–0	1962
Pan American	1	1–1	1963
Rockhurst	1	1–0	1964
Eastern New Mexico	1	1–0	1969
Guilford	1	1–0	1973
West Georgia	1	1–0	1974
Coppin State	1	1–0	1976
Texas Southern	1	1–1	1977
Drury	1	1–0	1979
Cameron	1	1–0	1980
Bethany Nazarene	1	1–1	1981
USC Spartanburg	1	1–0	1982
College of Charleston	1	1–0	1983
David Lipscomb	1	1–0	1986
Washburn	1	1–0	1987
St. Mary's (TX)	1	1–0	1989
Hawaii Pacific	1	1–0	1993
Faulkner	1	1–0	2001
USAO	1	1–1	2002
Mountain State	1	1–3	2004
John Brown	1	1–0	2005
Rocky Mountain	1	1–0	2009
Pikeville	1	1–0	2011
Vanguard	1	1–0	2014
Dalton State	1	1–0	2015
Mid-America Christian	1	1–0	2016
Graceland	1	1–0	2018
Shawnee State	1	1–0	2021
College of Idaho	1	1–0	2023
Freed–Hardeman	1	1–0	2024

• Schools highlighted in pink are closed or no longer sponsor athletics.
• Schools highlight in yellow have reclassified athletics from the NAIA.

See also

• Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player Award
• NAIA women's basketball championship

External links

• Official website