| Season | 1956–57 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 32 | ||||
| Finals site | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri | ||||
| Champions | Tennessee State (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | Southeastern State (2nd title game, 3rd Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Coach of the year | Bloomer Sullivan (Southeastern Oklahoma State) | ||||
| MVP | Jim Spivey (Southeastern Oklahoma State) | ||||
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The 1957 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 20th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1]
This would be the first tournament to have seeded teams. This also means that this is the first tournament to have an 'upset'. The first upset in tournament history was when the 3 seeded West Virginia Tech lost to Villa Madonna, predecessor to today's Thomas More of Kentucky, 93–91. There were three upsets this year, including the championship game. The NAIA seeded teams 21 years prior to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The NAIA would adjust seeding to 16 seed system, in 1959. In 2016 the seeds would be adjust again, each bracket would be ranked 1-8, with the overall number 1 in the Naismith Bracket.
The championship game featured Tennessee State and Southeastern State (OK). With Tennessee State's win, they became the first historically black institution to win a collegiate basketball national championship.[2] This would be the first of three national championship titles for Tennessee State.
The 3rd place game featured Pacific Lutheran defeating Eastern Illinois.