Teams 32 | ||
Finals Site Municipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri Champions Central Missouri State
(2nd title, 2nd title game,
2nd Final Four) Runner-Up Roanoke (Va.)
(1st title game,
1st Final Four) Semifinalists Murray State (Ky.)
(1st Final Four)
Washburn (Kan.)
(1st Final Four) | ||
The 1938 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 2nd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This was the first tournament to expand to 32 teams. The tournament featured the only forfeit in tournament history when Western Kentucky University forfeited to Simpson College (Iowa). The first round game between Delta State University (Miss.) and Drury College (Mo.) gave the first overtime in tournament history. Delta State beat Drury College 52 to 51 in one overtime.
Contents
The championship game featured Central Missouri State University defending their first national championship over Roanoke College (Va.), making them the first team to win back-to-back titles.
Awards and honors
Many of the records set by the 1938 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:
1938 NAIA bracket
3rd place game
The third place game featured the losing team from the national semifinalist to determine 3rd and 4th places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.