Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament

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Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Conference Basketball Championship
SportCollege basketball
ConferenceSouthland Conference
Number of teams8
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Current stadiumLeonard E. Merrell Center
Current locationKaty, Texas
Played1981–present
Last contest2021
Current championAbilene Christian Wildcats
Most championshipsNortheast Louisiana (6)
TV partner(s)ESPN
Official websiteSouthland.org Men's Basketball

The Southland Conference's Men's Basketball Tournament began in 1981, with the winner of the tournament receiving the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

From 1981 to 2001, the first round of the tournament took place at the higher seed, with the remaining rounds at a set location. In 2002, the Southland changed the format to play games at the campus of sites of each higher seed, during every round of the tournament. This was changed again in 2007, the first year that the conference selected a neutral site for all rounds of the tournament.

The tournament has been held at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in the Houston suburb of Katy, Texas since 2008. Starting in 2023, the event will move to The Legacy Center on the campus of McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, reportedly as part of a deal that kept McNeese in the Southland after it had been courted by Conference USA and nearly joined the Western Athletic Conference.[1]

Tournament results[]

Year Winner Score Opponent MVP Venue
1981 Lamar 83–69 Louisiana Tech Mike Olliver, Lamar first round at campus sites; rest at Beaumont Civic Center, Beaumont, Texas
1982 Southwestern Louisiana 81–75 Texas–Arlington Alford Turner, Louisiana-Lafayette Blackham Coliseum, Lafayette, Louisiana
1983 Lamar 75–54 North Texas State Kenneth Lyons, North Texas &
Lamont Robinson, Lamar		 Beaumont Civic Center
1984 Louisiana Tech 68–65 Lamar Willie Simmons, Louisiana Tech first round at campus sites; rest at Beaumont Civic Center
1985 Louisiana Tech 70–69 Lamar Jerry Everett, Lamar first round at campus sites; rest at Thomas Assembly Center, Ruston, Louisiana
1986 Louisiana-Monroe 59–57 McNeese State Arthur Hayes, Louisiana-Monroe first round at campus sites; rest at Fant–Ewing Coliseum, Monroe, Louisiana
1987 Louisiana Tech 58–51 Arkansas State Robert Godbolt, Louisiana Tech first round at campus sites; rest at Thomas Assembly Center
1988 North Texas 87–70 Louisiana-Monroe , North Texas first round at campus sites; rest at UNT Coliseum, Denton, Texas
1989 McNeese State 85–68 North Texas Michael Cutright, McNeese State first round at campus sites; rest at UNT Coliseum, Denton, Texas
1990 Louisiana-Monroe 84–68 North Texas , Louisiana-Monroe Fant–Ewing Coliseum
1991 Louisiana-Monroe 87–60 Texas–Arlington , Louisiana-Monroe
1992 Louisiana-Monroe 81–77 UTSA Ryan Stuart, Louisiana-Monroe Convocation Center, San Antonio, Texas
1993 Louisiana-Monroe 80–66 UTSA Ryan Stuart, Louisiana-Monroe Fant–Ewing Coliseum
1994 Texas State 69–60 North Texas Lynwood Wade, Texas State
1995 Nicholls State 98–87 Louisiana-Monroe Reggie Jackson, Nicholls State first round at campus sites; rest at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana
1996 Louisiana-Monroe 71–60 North Texas , Louisiana-Monroe Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
1997 Texas State 74–64 Louisiana-Monroe Dameon Sansom, Texas State
1998 Nicholls State 84–81 Texas–Arlington Donald Harris, Texas–Arlington
1999 UTSA 71–63 Texas State Steve Meyer, UTSA Gold Dome, Shreveport, Louisiana
2000 Lamar 62–55 Northwestern State Landon Rowe, Lamar first round at campus sites; rest at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
2001 Northwestern State 72–71 McNeese State Michael Byars-Dawson, Northwestern State first round at campus sites; rest at CenturyTel Center, Bossier City, Louisiana
2002 McNeese State 65–43 Louisiana-Monroe Fred Gentry, McNeese State all at campus sites; finals at Burton Coliseum, Lake Charles, Louisiana
2003 Sam Houston State 69–66 (OT) Stephen F. Austin Donald Cole, Sam Houston State all at campus sites; finals at Bernard Johnson Coliseum, Huntsville, Texas
2004 UTSA 74–70 Stephen F. Austin LeRoy Hurd, UTSA all at campus sites; finals at Convocation Center
2005 Southeastern Louisiana 49–42 Northwestern State Ricky Woods, Southwestern Louisiana all at campus sites; finals at Prather Coliseum, Natchitoches, Louisiana
2006 Northwestern State 95–87 Sam Houston State Clifton Lee, Northwestern State
2007 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 81–78 Northwestern State Chris Daniels, Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Campbell Center, Houston, Texas
2008 Texas–Arlington 82–79 Northwestern State Anthony Vereen, Texas–Arlington Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, Texas
2009 Stephen F. Austin 68–57 UTSA Matt Kingsley, Stephen F. Austin Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, Texas
2010 Sam Houston State 64–48 Stephen F. Austin Ashton Mitchell, Sam Houston State
2011 UTSA 75–72 McNeese State Devin Gibson, UTSA
2012 Lamar 70–49 McNeese State Mike James, Lamar
2013 Northwestern State 68–66 Stephen F. Austin Shamir Davis, Northwestern State
2014 Stephen F. Austin* 68–49 Sam Houston State Thomas Walkup, Stephen F. Austin
2015 Stephen F. Austin* 83–70 Sam Houston State
2016 Stephen F. Austin* 82–60 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi
2017 New Orleans 68–65 (OT) Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Erik Thomas, New Orleans
2018 Stephen F. Austin* 59–55 Southeastern Louisiana T. J. Holyfield, Stephen F. Austin
2019 Abilene Christian 77–60 New Orleans Jaren Lewis, Abilene Christian
2020 Canceled due to COVID-19
2021 Abilene Christian 79–46 Nicholls Kolton Kohl, Abilene Christian Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, Texas
2022
2023 The Legacy Center, Lake Charles, Louisiana
2024
2025
2026

Note: Northeast Louisiana and Southwestern Louisiana became Louisiana–Monroe and Louisiana–Lafayette, respectively, in 1999; the latter has since changed its athletic branding to solely Louisiana. Southwest Texas State became Texas State in 2003.

Note on asterisks: Stephen F. Austin kept academically ineligible players from 2013-2020.[2]

Performance by school[]

Member Winners Winning Years
Northeast Louisiana 6 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996
Stephen F. Austin 5* 2009, 2014*, 2015*, 2016*, 2018*
Lamar 4 1981, 1983, 2000, 2012
Northwestern State 3 2001, 2006, 2013
Louisiana Tech 3 1984, 1985, 1987
UTSA 3 1999, 2004, 2011
Abilene Christian 2 2019, 2021
McNeese 2 1989, 2002
Nicholls 2 1995, 1998
Sam Houston State 2 2003, 2010
Texas State 2 1994, 1997
New Orleans 1 2017
North Texas 1 1988
Southeastern Louisiana 1 2005
Southwestern Louisiana 1 1982
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 1 2007
UT Arlington 1 2008
TOTAL 40

Note: Italics indicates former conference member as of the 2021–22 season. Note on asterisks: Stephen F. Austin used academically ineligible players from 2013-2010.

All-Time Tournament Standings[]

School Record Winning pct Championships Runners-up Appearances
Current Members
Northwestern State 21–15 .583 3 4 18
New Orleans 5-4 .556 1 0 5
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 8–8 .500 1 2 9
McNeese 24-28 .461 2 3 29
Southeastern Louisiana 9-14 .391 1 1 15
Nicholls 9–15 .375 2 0 17
Houston Baptist 1-3 .333 0 0 2
Incarnate Word 0-0 .000 0 0 0
Former Members
Abilene Christian 2–0 1.000 1 0 1
Southwestern Louisiana 4-1 .800 1 0 2
Louisiana Tech 9-4 .692 3 1 7
Lamar 21–14 .600 4 2 18
Stephen F. Austin 23–17 .575 5 4 22
Louisiana–Monroe 21-16 .568 6 4 22
UTSA 17-15 .531 3 3 18
Sam Houston State 20–20 .500 2 3 22
North Texas 11-11 .500 1 5 12
Arkansas State 4-6 .400 0 1 6
Texas State 10-15 .400 2 1 17
UT Arlington 13-25 .342 1 3 26
Oral Roberts 1-2 .333 0 0 2
Central Arkansas 1–3 .250 0 0 4

Italicized indicates former member as of the 2021–22 NCAA basketball season
Sources: [3]

Television coverage[]

Year Network Play-by-play Analyst
2021 ESPN2 Joe Kleine
2020 Lance Blanks
2019 Reid Gettys
2018 Lance Blanks
2017
2016 Bob Wischusen
2015 Mark Neely Stephen Howard
2014[4] Carter Blackburn
2013[5] Mark Adams
2012[6] Dereck Whittenburg
2011[7]
2010[8]
2009[9] Dave Barnett
2008[10] Bucky Walters
2007[11] Eric Collins Jimmy Dykes

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Gazzolo, Jim (November 9, 2021). "McNeese sticks with Southland in move that will bring millions in for SW La. tourism". American Press. Lake Charles, LA. Retrieved November 12, 2021.
  2. ^ "Stephen F. Austin announces postseason bans for men's basketball, football and baseball".
  3. ^ "Southland Champions History & Records" (PDF). Southland Conference. p. 107. Retrieved February 17, 2019.
  4. ^ "Championship Week Presented by DIck's Sporting Goods Schedule". 5 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Championship Week Presented by DIck's Sporting Goods Schedule". 4 March 2013.
  6. ^ "Championship Week: Coverage of a Record 137 Men's Games Begins March 1". 27 February 2012.
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2010-12-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2010-12-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-03-07. Retrieved 2009-03-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-09-23. Retrieved 2012-07-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2009-03-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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