1982 NAIA men's basketball tournament

The 1982 NAIA Men's Basketball Tournament was held in March at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. The 45th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format.

Awards and honors

• Leading scorers:
• Leading rebounder:
• Player of the Year: est. 1994.

1982 NAIA bracket

	First Round					Second Round					Elite Eight					NAIA National Semifinals					NAIA National Championship
	1	Biola (Calif.)	69
	-	West Virginia Tech	66
						1	Biola	62
						16	Quincy	56
	16	Quincy (Ill.)	95
	-	Cedarville (Ohio)	65
											1	Biola	42
	TOP TIER
											-	Saginaw Valley	40
	9	Southern Tech (Ga.)	84
	-	Paul Quinn (Tex.)	79
						-	Saginaw Valley	67
						9	Southern Tech	61
	-	Saginaw Valley (Mich.)	60
	8	Stephen F. Austin State (Tex.)	48
																1	Biola	84
																-	Kearney State	75
	5	David Lipscomb (Tenn.)	87
	-	Kearney State (Neb.)	92
						-	Kearney State	77
						12	Hanover	76
	-	Westminster (Pa.)	39
	12	Hanover (Ind.)	49
											-	Kearney State	97
	TOP TIER
											4	Western Oregon	95
	13	Western New Mexico	58
	-	Briar Cliff (Iowa)	59*
						4	Western Oregon	63
						-	Briar Cliff	55
	-	Missouri Western State	66
	4	Western Oregon	76
																					1	Biola	38
																					14	South Carolina Spartanburg	51
	3	Xavier (La.)	57
	-	St. Mary’s (Tex.)	73
						-	St. Mary’s (TX)	53
						14	South Carolina Spartanburg	63
	-	Franklin Pierce (N.H.)	62
	14	South Carolina Spartanburg	75
											14	South Carolina Spartanburg	76
	BOTTOM TIER
											6	Wisconsin Eau Claire	64
	11	St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.)	72
	-	Washburn (Kan.)	68
						11	St. Thomas Aquinas	77
						6	Wisconsin Eau Claire	91
	-	Mary (N.D.)	73
	6	Wisconsin-Eau Claire	74
																14	South Carolina Spartanburg	68
																-	Hampton Institute	54
	7	Catawba (N.C.)	75
	-	Moorhead State (Minn.)	82
						-	Morehead State	61
						10	Henderson State	70
	-	Birmingham-Southern (Ala.)	52
	10	Henderson State (Ark.)	53
											10	Henderson State	66
	BOTTOM TIER
											-	Hampton Institute	70
	15	Central Washington	74
	-	Cumberland (Ky.)	65
						15	Central Washington	49
						-	Hampton Institute	63
	-	Hampton Institute (Va.)	65
	2	Oklahoma Christian	64

•  * denotes overtime.

3rd place game

The third place game featured the losing teams from the national semifinalist to determine 3rd and 4th places in the tournament. This game was played until 1988.

	NAIA Third Place Game
	-	Hampton Institute	98
	-	Kearney State	94