Kansas City has been the heartbeat of college basketball ever since its beginning over a century ago.

It all started way before the College Basketball Hall of Fame opened inside Sprint Center in 2007. On February 3, 1899, the University of Kansas — coached by basketball inventor Dr. James Naismith — played its first game and lost to Kansas City YMCA by a final score of 16-5. A week later, the Jayhawks grabbed their first victory with a 31-6 win over Topeka YMCA.

Oddly enough, Naismith is now the worst coach in Kansas men’s basketball history and the only one to end with a record below .500. The seven coaches after that have each had their fair share of success, especially Phog Allen, Larry Brown and current head coach Bill Self.

While Kansas basketball has a rich history, there is much more to Kansas City college basketball than just the Jayhawks.

Kansas City eventually hosted the NAIA National College Basketball Tournament in its inaugural event in 1937 and has rarely moved outside the city since. To this day, the NAIA Tournament is the longest continuous-running collegiate national championship. The NAIA Tournament was the first of its kind, debuting two years before the NCAA Tournament started.

From 1937 to 1974, the NAIA Tournament was held at Municipal Auditorium. It stayed in Kansas City at Kemper Arena until moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1994 to 2001 before returning to Municipal in 2002 and staying ever since.

In addition to the NAIA Tournament, Kansas City has hosted more NCAA Final Fours than any other city. Municipal Auditorium hosted the Final Four a total of nine times between 1940 and 1968 with it returning to Kansas City in 1988 at Kemper Arena.

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Championship Teams

It is no secret that the four-time national champion Kansas Jayhawks are among the elite programs in college basketball.

Perhaps the most memorable title came in 1988 when Kansas snatched its second national championship at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. Naismith College Coach of the Year Larry Brown and Player of the Year Danny Manning led the Jayhawks to the program’s second national title in its own backyard.

The unranked Jayhawks entered the tournament as a No. 6 seed before going on an impressive run to win the national title with an 83-79 win over the No. 1-seeded Oklahoma Sooners.

Outside of the Kansas Jayhawks, there are numerous other college basketball titles to come out of Kansas City area colleges, with the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats showing utter domination in NCAA DII men’s basketball since 2017 and many other championships ranging from NCAA DI to NAIA.

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