1937 NAIA basketball tournament: Difference between revisions

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Template:Infobox NAIA Basketball Tournament The 1937 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The first annual National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) basketball tournament featured eight teams playing in a single-elimination format.^[1] In 1938, it would expand to its current size of 32 teams.

This tournament is unique because it was started two years prior to the NCAA tournament and one year before the National Invitation 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, Emil S. Liston, Frank Cramer, and local leaders formed the National College Basketball Tournament, which was 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.^[2]

The first championship game featured Central Missouri State University defeating Morningside College (Iowa) 35–24. It is also the lowest scoring championship game in tournament history.

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 est. 1963
Leading rebounder 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^[3]

1937 NAIA bracket

First Round			Semifinals			NAIA National Championship

-	Southwestern (Kan.)	54

-	Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)	26
			-	Southwestern	24

			-	Central Missouri State	38
-	Luther (Iowa)	38

-	Central Missouri State	56
						-	Central Missouri State	35

						-	Morningside (Iowa)	24
-	Arkansas State Teachers	34

-	St. Benedict (Kan.)	33
			-	Arkansas State Teachers	33

			-	Moringside	40
-	Baker (Kan.)	21

-	Morningside (Iowa)	29

3rd place game

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

NAIA Third Place Game

-	Southwestern (Kan.)	46

-	Arkansas State Teachers	38

References

[1] NAIA.org

[2] NAIA history Template:Wayback

[3] NAIA Championship History

[1]

[2]

[3]

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 This tournament is unique because it was started two years prior to the NCAA tournament and one year before the [[National Invitation 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]], Emil S. Liston, Frank Cramer, and local leaders formed the '''National College Basketball Tournament''', which was 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.<ref>[http://www.naiahoops.com/page/history.php NAIA history]</ref>
+It began when Dr. [[James Naismith]], Emil S. Liston, Frank Cramer, and local leaders formed the '''National College Basketball Tournament''', which was 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.<ref>[http://www.naiahoops.com/page/history.php NAIA history] {{wayback|url=http://www.naiahoops.com/page/history.php |date=20111121185725 }}</ref>
 The first championship game featured [[Central Missouri Mules and Jennies|Central Missouri State University]] defeating [[Morningside College|Morningside College (Iowa)]] 35–24. It is also the lowest scoring championship game in tournament history.