1961 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
| 1961 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Teams | 32 |
| Finals Site |
Municipal Auditorium Kansas City, Missouri |
| Champions |
Grambling (La.) (1st title, 1st title game, 1st Final Four) |
| Runner-Up |
Georgetown (Ky.) (1st title game, 2nd Final Four) |
| Semifinalists |
Northern Michigan (1st Final Four) Westminster (Pa.) (2nd Final Four) |
| Coach of the Year | Rex Pyles (Alderson-Broaddus (W.Va.)) |
| Chuck Taylor MVP |
Charles Hardnett (Grambling (La.)) |
|
Charles Stevenson
Hustle Award |
Dick Vories (Georgetown (Ky.)) |
The 1961 NAIA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 24th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game featured the 13th seeded Grambling and the third seeded Georgetown. For the first time since seeding, in 1958, the third place game featured the first and second seeds, Northern Michigan, and Westminster.
Many of the records set by the 1961 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 third and fourth places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.
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