The 1940 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 4th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.[1]
This year the National College Basketball Tournament (NCBT) changed its name to the National Association for Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB).[2]
The championship game featured Tarkio beating San Diego State, 52–42. San Diego State became the first team to lose back-to-back title games.
Many of the records set by the 1940 tournament have been broken, and many of the awards were established much later: