The 1957 NCAA University Division basketball tournament was a single-elimination tournament involving 23 teams to determine the national champion of men's college basketball in the NCAA University Division, which was replaced in 1973 by NCAA Division I.
The 1956–57 school year was the first in which NCAA members were formally divided into separate competitive levels, with larger and more competitive athletic programs placed in the University Division and smaller programs placed in the College Division (which would be replaced by NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III in 1973).
North Carolina, coached by Frank McGuire, won the national title with a 54–53 triple-overtime victory in the final game over Kansas, coached by Dick Harp.
North Carolina won two consecutive triple overtime games to win the championship.
The North Carolina – Michigan State semi final game and North Carolina – Kansas final game both made USA Today's list of the greatest NCAA tournament games of all time at 11 and 6 respectively.