The1940 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing insingle-elimination play to determine the participating champion of men'sNCAADivision Icollege basketball. The 2nd edition of the tournament began on March 20, 1940, and ended with thechampionship game on March 30, at theMunicipal Auditorium inKansas City, Missouri. A total of eight games were played, including a single third place game in the West region.

Indiana, coached byBranch McCracken, won the tournament title with a 60–42 victory in thefinal game overKansas, coached byPhog Allen.Marvin Huffman of Indiana was named the tournament'sMost Outstanding Player.

This would be the only tournament to featureSpringfield College, the schoolJames Naismith worked for when he invented the sport of basketball. They were the first of fourteen colleges and universities to compete in the tournament that are no longer in Division I. This was also the first appearance of theKansas Jayhawks, whose first coach was Naismith.

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1940 tournament:

March 20 and 21

East Regional,Butler Fieldhouse,Indianapolis, Indiana (Host:Butler University)

West Regional,Municipal Auditorium,Kansas City, Missouri (Host:Missouri Valley Conference)

March 30

Municipal Auditorium,Kansas City, Missouri (Host: Missouri Valley Conference)

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• 1940 National Invitation Tournament
• 1940 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament

• NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament
• 1939–40 NCAA men's basketball season
• 1940 in sports in Missouri
• March 1940 sports events in the United States

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from August 2023