| Season | 1968–69 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 32 | ||||
| Finals site | Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri | ||||
| Champions | Eastern New Mexico (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Runner-up | Maryland State (1st title game, 1st Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
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| Coach of the year | Joe Retton (Fairmont State (W.Va.)) | ||||
Charles Stevenson Hustle Award | Larry Vanzant (Eastern New Mexico) | ||||
| MVP | Jake Ford (Maryland State) | ||||
| Top scorer | Jake Ford (Maryland State) (156 points) | ||||
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The 1969 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 32nd annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1] This is the first tournament since 1965 tournament to feature four new teams to the NAIA Semifinals. (It would be the 5th time since 1937 this has happened; previous years were the inaugural year 1937, 1945, 1947, 1965.) This would not happen again until 2001.