1937 National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament

December 2025 College basketball tournament August 2023 October 2023 National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament 1937 Men's 150px 8 Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri Central Missouri State 1st 1st 1st 1st Morningside 1st Southwestern (KS) 1st Arkansas State Teachers 1st unknown 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.NAIA.org 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.NAIA history https://web.archive.org/web/20111121185725/http://www.naiahoops.com/page/history.php November 21, 2011 The first championship game featured Central Missouri State University defeating Morningside College 35–24. It is also the lowest scoring championship game in tournament history. Awards and honors Many of the records set by the 1937 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later: Leading scorer est. 1963 Leading rebounder est. 1963 Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player est. 1939 Charles Stevenson Hustle Award est. 1958 Coach of the Year est. 1954 Player of the Year est. 1994NAIA Results Bracket no First round Semifinals NAIA national championship 170 30 high - 1936 men Southwestern College Moundbuilders Southwestern (KS) 54 - 1936 men Dakota Wesleyan Tigers Dakota Wesleyan 26 - 1936 men Luther Norse Luther 38 - 1936 none Central Missouri Mules Central Missouri State 56 - 1936 none Arkansas State Teachers Bears Arkansas State Teachers 34 - 1936 men St. Benedict's Ravens St. Benedict's 33 - 1936 men Baker Wildcats Baker 21 - 1936 men Morningside Mustangs Morningside 29 - Southwestern (KS) 24 - Central Missouri State 38 - Arkansas State Teachers 33 - Morningside 40 - Central Missouri State 35 - Morningside 24 NAIA Third Place Southwestern (KS) 46 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. References Tournament Category:1937 in sports in Missouri Category:1930s in Kansas City, Missouri Category:March 1937 sports events in the United States Category:College basketball tournaments in Missouri Category:NAIA men's basketball championship