The 1957 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri.
The 20th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.
The first upset in tournament history was when the 3 seeded West Virginia Tech lost to Villa Madonna, predecessor to today's Thomas More of Kentucky, 93–91.
The NAIA seeded teams 21 years prior to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
The 3rd place game featured Pacific Lutheran defeating Eastern Illinois.