The 1948 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 11th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The championship game featured Louisville beating Indiana State, 82–70. The only school to have won national titles in both the NAIA and NCAA Division I is Louisville. Uniquely, Indiana State has finished as the National Runner-up in the NAIA (1946 and 1948), the NCAA Division I (1979) and the NCAA Division II (1968) tournaments. Indiana State won the NAIA in 1950.