NAIA District 4 Men's Basketball

NAIA District 4 primarily consisted of NAIA schools in Texas. The history of its shape is quite convoluted. In 1952, the district was assigned to the eastern part of state, the definition of what defined "East" was sometimes a bit fluid, but by the mid-1950s, it came to house two primary conferences, the Lone Star Conference and the Big State Conference (1949-1987). After the Lone Star renounced its membership, a few "eastern" independents were added.

When the NAIA split into divisions in 1992, Division I teams were assigned to District 4, while Division II teams were assigned to District 8. Further, the remaining teams from District 7 were assigned to District 4. In 1993 the Division I teams were split between Districts 4 and 8.

Primary sources for information on this district include the Austin American-Statesman, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and the Dallas Morning News.

Formats

1951, 53-54: A three-team playoff with one semifinal that involved representatives of the Lone Star, Gulf State, Border (1951 only) and Big State (1953 and 1954) conferences.

1952, 55: One-game playoff that involved the Big State and Lone Star Conferences.

1956-76: Format changed to a best-of-three championship series.

1977-82: Format expanded to four teams and a straight elimination series.

1983-85: Three-team playoff with a single semifinal game.

1986-87: Four-team playoff.

1988-91, 1993: Six-team playoff with Heart of Texas Conference champion and top independent team earning 1st round byes.

1992: With District 4 encompassing all Division I teams in Texas, an eight-team playoff was conducted.

District Champions

1951	Southwest Texas State	1966	Howard Payne (2)	1981	Saint Mary's (TX) (5)
1952	Southwest Texas State (2)‡	1967	Saint Mary's (TX) (2)	1982	Saint Mary's (TX) (6)
1953	East Texas State‡	1968	Stephen F. Austin (3)	1983	Saint Mary's (TX) (7)
1954	East Texas State (2)	1969	Howard Payne (3)	1984	Saint Mary's (TX) (8)
1955	East Texas State (3)	1970	Stephen F. Austin (4)	1985	Southwestern (TX)
1956	Stephen F. Austin	1971	Stephen F. Austin (5)	1986	Southwestern (TX) (2)
1957	Southwest Texas State (3)	1972	Stephen F. Austin (6)	1987	Saint Mary's (TX) (9)
1958	East Texas State (4)	1973	Sam Houston State	1988	East Texas Baptist†
1959	Southwest Texas State (4)	1974	Saint Mary's (TX) (3)	1989	Saint Mary's (TX) (10)
1960	Southwest Texas State (5)	1975	Saint Mary's (TX) (4)	1990	Southwestern (TX) (3)
1961	Southwest Texas State (6)	1976	Howard Payne (4)	1991	Saint Mary's (TX) (11)
1962	Pan American†‡	1977	East Texas State (5)	1992 I	Wayland Baptist†
1963	Howard Payne	1978	East Texas State (6)	1992 II	unclassified
1964	Saint Mary's (TX)	1979	Southwest Texas State (7)	1993 I	Incarnate Word
1965	Stephen F. Austin (2)	1980	Abilene Christian	1993 II	unclassified

† - East Texas Baptist also won two District 8 titles; in 1951 and 1961. Pan American also won District 8 titles in 1963 and 19644. Wayland Baptist won the District 8 title on eight different occasions prior to moving to District 4.

‡ - Southwest Texas State is now known simply as Texas State. East Texas State is now known as Texas A&M-Commerce. Pan American is now known as Texas-Pan American.

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