1972 NAIA basketball tournament
| Teams | 32 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals site | Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri | ||||
| Champions | Kentucky State (3 title, 3 title game) | ||||
| Runner-up | Wisconsin Eau Claire (1 title game, 1 Final Four) | ||||
| Semifinalists |
| ||||
| Coach of the year | Ken Anderson (Wisconsin-Eau Claire) | ||||
Charles Stevenson Hustle Award | Frank Schade (Wisconsin Eau Claire) | ||||
| MVP | Travis Grant (Kentucky State) | ||||
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The 1972 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 35th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
This year was the first and only tournament since seeding began in 1957 that all four top seeded teams made it to the national semi-finals. Seeding was changed in 2016, so each bracket is now seeded 1 through 8. Kentucky State became the second team to win three titles in a row, joining Tennessee State (1957, 1958, 1959).