March 14-20, 2012 - Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, MO

History & Archives

 

Download a complete listing of championship tournament results and records. Click year to access complete results.

Year

 Champion

Runner-up
 2011 Pikeville Rocky Mountain
 2010 Oklahoma Baptist Azusa Pacific (Calif.)
 2009 Rocky Mountain (Mont.)  Columbia (Mo.) 
 2008 Oklahoma City  Mountain State (W.Va.) 
 2007 Oklahoma City  Concordia (Calif.) 
 2006 Texas Wesleyan  Oklahoma City
 2005 John Brown (Ark.) Azusa Pacific (Calif.)
 2004  Mountain State (W.Va.)   Concordia (Calif.)
 2003 Concordia (Calif.) Mountain State (W.Va.)
 2002 Science & Arts (Okla.) Oklahoma Baptist
 2001 Faulkner (Ala.) Science and Arts (Okla.)
 2000 Life (Ga.)   Georgetown (Ky.)  

 

Brief history of the tournament

1937

 The tournament was the brainchild of Emil S. Liston, Dr. James Naismith, Frank Cramer, and a group of Kansas City business leaders who wanted to provide Kansas City-area fans with exciting amateur competition and to provide a framework for small colleges and universities to determine a national basketball champion.
1938

The original eight-team tournament expanded to 32 teams.
1940

National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB)
1944 Suspended play for World War II
1948

 

John Wooden’s Indiana State team brings first African-American student-athlete to the NAIB tournament
1952 NAIB adopts new moniker – National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) - and introduces men’s championships in golf, tennis and outdoor track and field
1953

NAIA becomes first collegiate association to invite historically black institutions into membership        
1957

 

Tennessee State becomes the first historically black institution to win a collegiate basketball national championship
1980 NAIA becomes first collegiate athletics association to sponsor both men’s and women’s championships
1993 NAIA moves its headquarters and the tournament to Tulsa, OK
2000 NAIA introduces Champions of Character initiative along with its new brand emphasizing character development among NAIA student-athletes
2001 NAIA relocated its National Office to Olathe, Kansas, NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship returned to Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium

2007

NAIA opens new headquarters in downtown Kansas City, MO
2008 NAIA and the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) awarded host conference status for the national championship event beginning in 2009 through 2011.
2009 NAIA announces that Buffalo Funds title sponsorship will continue through 2013 and Municipal Auditorium remains the host venue through 2013.