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.
[1] 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.