NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship History

The first NCAA College Division National Championship Tournament was played at the University of Evansville , Indiana in March, 1957. Wheaton (IL) 28-1, led by Coach Lee Pfund and led by tournament Most Outstanding Player Mel Peterson, defeated the Panthers of Western Kentucky , 80 to 65 before an estimated crowd of 3500. The tournament drew 13,000 fans that year and would grow to as many as 36,000 in the years to come. In 1974, the NCAA reorganized into its current format and crowned its first Division II Men's Basketball National Champion when Morgan St. defeated Southwest Missouri State by a score of 67-52. In 2006 the tournament's Elite Eight would return to Springfield , MA , its natural home, to celebrate the 50 th anniversary of the event.