1946 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
| 1946 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 32 |
| Finals Site |
Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri |
| Champions |
Southern Illinois (1st title, 1st title game, 2nd Final Four) |
| Runner-Up |
Indiana State (1st title game, 1st Final Four) |
| Semifinalists |
Pepperdine (2nd Final Four) Loyola (La.) (2nd Final Four) |
| Chuck Taylor MVP | Gene Stotlar (Southern Illinois) |
The 1946 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 9th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game was won by Southern Illinois University when the Salukis defeated the Indiana State University Sycamores 49-40.
Central Missouri State, the original National Champions, and first back-to-back National Champions, played in their final NAIA tournament, although they remained an NAIA member for another decade, leaving in the mid 1950s to join the NCAA. The Mules appeared seven tournaments recording an overall record of 13 wins and 6 loses. The Mules won two National Championships in 1937 and 1938 and finishing in 4th place in 1942.
Many of the records set by the 1945 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later:
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.
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