Download a complete listingof championship tournament results and records. Click year to access complete results.
Year | Champion | Runner-up |
| 2011 | Pikeville | Rocky Mountain |
| 2010 | Oklahoma Baptist | Azusa Pacific (Calif.) |
| 2009 | Rocky Mountain (Mont.) | Columbia (Mo.) |
| 2008 | Oklahoma City | Mountain State (W.Va.) |
| 2007 | Oklahoma City | Concordia (Calif.) |
| 2006 | Texas Wesleyan | Oklahoma City |
| 2005 | John Brown (Ark.) | Azusa Pacific (Calif.) |
| 2004 | Mountain State (W.Va.) | Concordia (Calif.) |
| 2003 | Concordia (Calif.) | Mountain State (W.Va.) |
| 2002 | Science & Arts (Okla.) | Oklahoma Baptist |
| 2001 | Faulkner (Ala.) | Science and Arts (Okla.) |
| 2000 | Life (Ga.) | Georgetown (Ky.) |
1937 |  The tournament was the brainchild of Emil S. Liston, Dr. James Naismith, Frank Cramer, and a group of Kansas City business leaders who wanted to provide Kansas City-area fans with exciting amateur competition and to provide a framework for small colleges and universities to determine a national basketball champion. |
| 1938 |
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| 1940 | National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) |
| 1944 | Suspended play for World War II |
| 1948 |
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| 1952 | NAIB adopts new moniker – National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) - and introduces men’s championships in golf, tennis and outdoor track and field |
| 1953 | NAIA becomes first collegiate association to invite historically black institutions into membership |
| 1957 |
 Tennessee State becomes the first historically black institution to win a collegiate basketball national championship |
| 1980 | NAIA becomes first collegiate athletics association to sponsor both men’s and women’s championships |
| 1993 | NAIA moves its headquarters and the tournament to Tulsa, OK |
| 2000 | NAIA introducesChampions of Characterinitiative along with its new brand emphasizing character development among NAIA student-athletes |
| 2001 | NAIA relocated its National Office to Olathe, Kansas, NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship returned to Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium |
2007 | NAIA opens new headquarters in downtown Kansas City, MO |
| 2008 | NAIA and the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) awarded host conference status for the national championship event beginning in 2009 through 2011. |
| 2009 | NAIA announces that Buffalo Funds title sponsorship will continue through 2013 and Municipal Auditorium remains the host venue through 2013. |
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The original eight-team tournament expanded to 32 teams.
John Wooden’s Indiana State team brings first African-American student-athlete to the NAIB tournament
