1940 NAIA basketball tournament

The 1940 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 4th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This year the National College Basketball Tournament (NCBT) changed its name to the National Association for Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB).

The championship game featured Tarkio College (Mo.) beating the Aztecs of San Diego State 52-42. San Diego State became the first team to lose back to back title games.

Awards and honors

Many of the records set by the 1940 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:

• Leading scorer est. 1963
• Leading rebounder est. 1963
• Charles Stevenson Hustle Award est. 1958
• Coach of the Year est. 1954
• Player of the Year est. 1994

1940 NAIA bracket

	First Round					Second Round					Elite Eight					NAIA National Semifinals					NAIA National Championship
	-	Kansas Wesleyan	45
	-	Arkansas State Teachers	33
						-	Kansas Wesleyan	50
						-	Hamline	61
	-	Hamline (Minn.)	47
	-	Pacific (Ore.)	26
											-	Southwestern	33
	TOP TIER
											-	Hamline	38
	-	Southwestern (Kan.)	36
	-	Columbia College (Iowa)	30
						-	Southwestern	38
						-	Glenville State	37
	-	Glenville State (W.Va.)	50
	-	Wayne State (Neb.)	38
																-	Hamline	34
																-	Tarkio	48
	-	Southeastern Oklahoma State	33
	-	Northwestern State (La.)	27
						-	Southeastern Oklahoma State	39
						-	Texas Wesleyan	40
	-	Texas Wesleyan	40
	-	Central Missouri State	36
											-	Texas Wesleyan	25
	TOP TIER
											-	Tarkio	37
	-	Tarkio (Mo.)	54
	-	Alfred Holbrook (Ohio)	37
						-	Tarkio	50
						-	West Texas State	49
	-	West Texas State	60
	-	Northern State (S.D.)	52
																					-	Tarkio	52
																					-	San Diego State	42
	-	East Texas State	49
	-	Ripon (Wis.)	39
						-	East Texas State	33
						-	Pittsburg State	55
	-	Pittsburg State (Kan.)	47
	-	St. Joseph’s (Ind.)	26
											-	Pittsburg State	30
	BOTTOM TIER
											-	San Diego State	32
	-	San Diego State (Calif.)	36
	-	Central State (Okla.)	35
						-	San Diego State	48
						-	Appalachian State	46
	-	Appalachian State (N.C.)	43
	-	Bemidji State (Minn.)	34
																-	San Diego State	30
																-	Delta State	28
	-	Northwest Missouri State	45
	-	Simpson (Iowa)	44
						-	Northwest Missouri State	43
						-	Peru State	41
	-	Peru State (Neb.)	49
	-	Augustana (Ill.)	45
											-	Northwest Missouri State	30
	BOTTOM TIER
											-	Delta State	44
	-	Superior State (Wis.)	55
	-	Upper Iowa	42
						-	Superior State	40
						-	Delta State	57
	-	Delta State (Miss.)	43
	-	Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.)	31

Third place game

The third place game featured the losing team from the national semifinalist to determine third and fourth places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.

	NAIA Third Place Game
	-	Hamline	26
	-	Delta State	45