1937 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

Infobox NAIA Basketball Tournament
Year=1937


ImageSize=150px
Caption=1937 NAIA Men's Division I National Basketball Tournament
Teams=8
FinalFourArena=Municipal Auditorium
FinalFourCity=Kansas City, Missouri
Champions=Central Missouri State
TitleCount=1st
RunnerUp=Morningside (Iowa)
GameCount=1st
Semifinal1=Southwestern (Kan.)
FinalFourCount=1st
Semifinal2=Arkansas State Teachers
FinalFourCount2=1st
Coach=
CoachCount=
MVP=
MVPTeam=
Attendance=
OneTopScorer=
TwoTopScorers=
TopScorer=
TopScorerTeam=
TopScorer2=
TopScorer2Team=
Points=The 1937 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 1st Annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 8 teams playing in a single-elimination format [ [http://naia.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl.html NAIA.org] ] . In 1938 it would expand to its current size of 32 teams.

This tournament is unique in that fact that it was start two years prior to the NCAA tournament, and all the teams play over a series of six days instead of several weekends. The compactness of the tournament has given it the nickname "college basketball's toughest tournament".

It began when Dr. James Naismith and local leaders formed the National College Basketball Tournament staged at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The goal of the tournament was to establish a forum for small colleges and universities to determine a national basketball champion.

The championship game featured Central Missouri State defeating Morningside College (Iowa) 35-24.

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1937 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:
*Leading Scorer Award est. 1963
*Leading Rebounder Award est. 1963
*Chuck Taylor Most Valuable Player est. 1939
*Charles Stevenson Hustle Award est. 1958
*Coach of the Year est. 1954
*Player of the Year est. 1994 [ [http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/naia/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/mensd1champhistory.pdf NAIA Championship History] ]

1937 NAIA bracket

8TeamBracket
RD1=NAIA First Round
RD2=NAIA Semifinals
RD3=NAIA National Championship
RD1-seed1=-
RD1-team1=Southwestern (Kan.)
RD1-score1=54
RD1-seed2=-
RD1-team2=Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)
RD1-score2=26
RD1-seed3=-
RD1-team3=Luther (Iowa)
RD1-score3=38
RD1-seed4=-
RD1-team4=Central Missouri State
RD1-score4=56
RD1-seed5=-
RD1-team5=Arkansas State Teachers
RD1-score5=34
RD1-seed6=-
RD1-team6=St. Benedict (Kan.)
RD1-score6=33
RD1-seed7=-
RD1-team7=Baker (Kan.)
RD1-score7=21
RD1-seed8=-
RD1-team8=Morningside (Iowa)
RD1-score8=29
RD2-seed1=-
RD2-team1=Southwestern
RD2-score1=24
RD2-seed2=-
RD2-team2=Central Missouri State
RD2-score2=38
RD2-seed3=-
RD2-team3=Arkansas State Teachers
RD2-score3=33
RD2-seed4=-
RD2-team4=Moringside
RD2-score4=40
RD3-seed1=-
RD3-team1=Central Missouri State
RD3-score1=35
RD3-seed2=-
RD3-team2=Morningside (Iowa)
RD3-score2=24

3rd place game

The third place game featured the losing teams from the final four to determine 3rd and 4th places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.

2TeamBracket
RD1=NAIA Third Place Game
RD1-seed1=-
RD1-team1=Southwestern (Kan.)
RD1-score1=46
RD1-seed2=-
RD1-team2=Arkansas State Teachers (S.D.)
RD1-score2=38

References

ee also