NAIA District 29 Men's Basketball

NAIA District 29 originally consisted of NAIA schools in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. After only two years, however, the district was reassigned as a designated district for black colleges. In 1956, the district was split into eastern and western sections; the western section was then assigned the following year to District 6. The eastern section continued as District 29 until 1961, at which point the district was reserved for either the champion or runner-up of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. (The champion was offered the choice of playing in the NCAA or NAIA tournament; the runner-up played in whichever tournament the champion declined.) In 1967 and 1968, the district was not represented at the national tournament(but was active); in 1969, the district picked up North Carolina and Virginia. This assignment continued until 1977 when it was split between District 19 and District 26; from 1978 to 1982, the district was again unassigned. After an attempt at a district based in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia in 1983, the Hawai'i schools were removed from District 2 and assigned to District 29 in 1984. This assignment continued until the abolition of the district qualification system.

When the NAIA split into divisions in 1992, the schools in District 29 participated in Division I.

Primary sources for information on this district include the Lexington Dispatch for the North Carolina/Virginia era. No primary source exists for the remainder.

Formats

1951-52: The Mason-Dixon Conference tournament served as the defacto playoff. In the two years covered on this wiki, both champions held NAIA membership.

1953-55: Eight-team format for black colleges. It was also known as the National Athletic Steering Committee championship.

1956-59, 1969-74, 1976-77, 1984-92: Four-team format.

1960-61, 1983: Single-game playoff.

1962-66: Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association representatives represented the district over these five years. See note above.

1967: Playoff between Norfolk State and District of Columbia was cancelled, with DC Teachers being given the bid. Soon after, DC Teachers was ruled ineligible and the bid was revoked.

1968: No playoff held

1975: Five-team playoff

1993: Three-team playoff

1978-82: District went unassigned.

District Champions

1951	American	1966	Norfolk State†	1981	unassigned
1952	Baltimore	1967	unassigned	1982	unassigned
1953	Tennessee A&I‡	1968	No playoff held	1983	Liberty Baptist‡
1954	Tennessee A&I (2)	1969	Elizabeth City State	1984	Chaminade†
1955	Texas Southern†	1970	Campbell	1985	Hawai'i Pacific
1956	E: Tennessee State (3) W: Texas Southern (2)	1971	Elizabeth City State (2)	1986	Brigham Young-Hawai'i
1957	Tennessee State (4)	1972	Elizabeth City State (3)	1987	Hawai'i-Hilo
1958	Tennessee State (5)	1973	Pembroke State‡	1988	Hawai'i Pacific (2)
1959	Kentucky State†	1974	Virginia State	1989	Brigham Young-Hawai'i (2)
1960	Savannah State†	1975	Norfolk State (2)	1990	Hawai'i Pacific (3)
1961	Winston-Salem State†	1976	Norfolk State (3)	1991	Hawai'i Loa
1962	Winston-Salem State (2)	1977	Campbell (2)	1992 I	Brigham Young-Hawai'i (3)
1963	Winston-Salem State (3)	1978	unassigned	1992 II	unassigned
1964	Kentucky State (2)	1979	unassigned	1993 I	Hawai'i Pacific (4)
1965	Winston-Salem State (4)	1980	unassigned	1993 II	unassigned

† - Texas Southern also won two District 6 titles and three District 8 titles. Kentucky State later won six District 24 titles, all in succession from 1970 to 1975, as well as District 32 titles in 1977 and 1979. Savannah State also won both District 6A titles in 1961 and 1962. Winston-Salem State later won two District 26 titles. Norfolk State later won two District 19 titles. Pembroke State also won the 1984 District 26 title. Chaminade had previously won the 1983 District 2 title. Hawai'i-Hilo previously won three District 2 titles.

‡ Tennessee A&I became Tennessee State. Pembroke State is now known as North Carolina-Pembroke. Liberty Baptist is now known as Liberty.

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