Teams 32 | ||
Finals Site Municipal Auditorium
Kansas City, Missouri Champions Science and Arts (Okla.)
(1st title) Runner-Up Oklahoma Baptist
(6th title game) Semifinalists Azusa Pacific (Calif.)
(3rd Final Four)
Barat (Ill.)
(1st Final Four) Coach of the Year Harry Statham
(McKendree (Ill.)) | ||
The 2002 Buffalo Funds - NAIA Men's Division I 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 (Calif.) and Barat College(Ill.).
2002 was also the first year Buffalo Funds, a Kansas City-based investment management firm, was the title corporate sponsor. In 2008 Buffalo Funds extended its contract with the NAIA tournament until the 2010 tournament.