The 1956–57 NCAA men's University Division basketball season began in December 1956. It progressed through the regular season and conference tournaments, and concluded with the 1957 NCAA University Division basketball tournament championship game on March 23, 1957, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The North Carolina Tar Heels won their first NCAA national championship with a 54–53 triple-overtime victory over the Kansas Jayhawks.

• The width of the free throw lane (also known as the "key"), increased from 6 to 12 feet (1.8 to 3.7 m).^[1]
• When teams lined up along the key for a free throw, it became mandatory that the two spaces adjacent to the end line be occupied by opponents of the player shooting the free throw. Previously, one player from each team occupied the spaces adjacent to the end line, with a player from the home team occupying a space marked "H" and a player from the visiting team occupying a space marked "V."^[1]
• Grasping the rim of the basket was deemed a form of unsportsmanlike conduct.^[1]

• This was the first season in which NCAA basketball was split into two levels of play – the University Division for schools competing at the highest level of play and the College Division for teams playing at lower levels with limited or no scholarships. It also was the first season in which the NCAA held more than one championship tournament — one for the University Division and one for the College Division. In 1973, the University Division would be replaced by Division I and the College Division by Division II and Division III.^[2]
• The California Basketball Association was renamed the West Coast Athletic Conference. It would be renamed the West Coast Conference in 1989.
• In 1957, the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively selected its national champions for the seasons from 1900–01 through 1918–19.^[3]

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A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.