The 1976 NAIA men's basketball tournament was held in March at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. The 39th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. This was the first tournament since 1969 tournament to feature four new teams to the NAIA semifinals. (It was the 6th time since 1937 this happened; previous years were the inaugural year 1937, 1945, 1947, 1965, 1969).
The third-place game featured the losing teams from the national semifinalist to determine 3rd and 4th places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.