The 1954 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 17th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. Southwest Missouri State, now Missouri State, and the previous two time champion would settle for a third place victory over Arkansas Tech 75–61. The Georgetown Tigers make their first NAIA appearance. It would become a tournament record for most tournament appearances in 1974 with twelve, and in the 1990s would start a twenty-six year consecutive appearance streak, a tournament record.