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).
The third-place game featured the losing teams from the national semifinalist to determine third and fourth places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.