| Year: | 1953 |
| Teams: | 22 |
| Finalfourarena: | Municipal Auditorium |
| Finalfourcity: | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Champions: | Indiana Hoosiers |
| Titlecount: | 2nd |
| Champgamecount: | 2nd |
| Champffcount: | 2nd |
| Runnerup: | Kansas Jayhawks |
| Gamecount: | 3rd |
| Runnerffcount: | 3rd |
| Semifinal1: | LSU Tigers |
| Finalfourcount: | 1st |
| Semifinal2: | Washington Huskies |
| Finalfourcount2: | 1st |
| Coach: | Branch McCracken |
| Coachcount: | 2nd |
| Mop: | B. H. Born |
| Mopteam: | Kansas |
| Attendance: | 127,149 |
| Topscorer: | Bob Houbregs |
| Topscorerteam: | Washington |
| Points: | 139 |
The 1953 NCAA basketball tournament involved 22 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of NCAA college basketball. The 15th edition of the tournament began on March 10, 1953, and ended with the championship game on March 18 in Kansas City, Missouri. A total of 26 games were played, including a third-place game in each region and a national third-place game.
Indiana, coached by Branch McCracken, won the tournament title with a 69–68 victory in the final game over Kansas, coached by Phog Allen. B. H. Born of Kansas was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. The Hoosiers became the third team, after Oklahoma A&M in 1945–46 and Kentucky in 1948–49, to win two titles and the second of three teams to win titles in their first two tournament appearances (after Oklahoma A&M); however, unlike Oklahoma A&M before them and San Francisco after, their first two tournament appearances were 13 years apart.
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1953 tournament:
| Region | Team | Coach | Conference | Finished | Final Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | ||||||
| East | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | Penn | L 90–70 | ||
| East | First round | Notre Dame | L 72–57 | |||
| East | First round | Lebanon Valley | L 80–67 | |||
| East | Independent | Elite Eight | LSU | L 81–73 | ||
| East | Champion | Kansas | W 69–68 | |||
| East | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | Wake Forest | L 91–71 | ||
| East | Fourth Place | Washington | L 88–69 | |||
| East | First round | DePaul | L 74–72 | |||
| East | Independent | First round | Holy Cross | L 87–74 | ||
| East | Independent | Elite Eight | Indiana | L 79–66 | ||
| East | Regional third place | DePaul | W 90–70 | |||
| East | Regional third place | Lebanon Valley | W 91–71 | |||
| West | ||||||
| West | First round | Santa Clara | L 81–56 | |||
| West | Independent | First round | Seattle | L 88–77 | ||
| West | Runner Up | Indiana | L 69–68 | |||
| West | Independent | Regional Fourth Place | TCU | L 58–56 | ||
| West | Elite Eight | Kansas | L 61–55 | |||
| West | Elite Eight | Washington | L 74–62 | |||
| West | Independent | Regional third place | Wyoming | W 80–64 | ||
| West | Regional third place | Oklahoma City | W 58–56 | |||
| West | Third Place | LSU | W 88–69 | |||
| West | Regional Fourth Place | Seattle | L 80–64 | |||