The 1944 NCAA basketball tournament involved eight schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball.

Arnie Ferrin of Utah was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

Utah became the first team to play in both the NIT and NCAA tournament in the same season.

Utah was given a second chance to play in the NCAA Tournament after a March 1944 automobile accident killed a coaching aide and seriously injured two players on the Arkansas team.

[1] Utah's winning team featured Wataru Misaka, who later joined the New York Knicks to become the first person of color (in his case, being an Asian-American by being of Japanese descent) to play in modern professional basketball.