Southland Conference men's basketball tournament

Last updated
Southland Conference men's basketball tournament
Conference basketball championship
Sport College basketball
Conference Southland Conference
Number of teams8
Format Single-elimination tournament
Current stadium The Legacy Center
Current location Lake Charles, Louisiana
Played1981–present
Last contest 2025
Current champion McNeese
Most championships Northeast Louisiana (6)
TV partner(s) ESPN
Official website Southland.org Men's Basketball
Sponsors
Jersey Mike's Subs

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.

Contents

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.

Starting with the 2023 edition, the event is held at 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] This move followed a 15-season run (2008–2022) at Leonard E. Merrell Center in the Houston suburb of Katy, Texas.

Tournament results

YearChampionScoreRunner-upTournament MVPLocation
1981 Lamar 83–69 Louisiana Tech Mike Olliver, Lamarfirst round at campus sites; rest at Beaumont Civic Center, Beaumont, Texas
1982 Southwestern Louisiana 81–75 Texas–Arlington Alford Turner, Southwestern Louisiana 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 Techfirst round at campus sites; rest at Beaumont Civic Center
1985 Louisiana Tech 70–69 Lamar Jerry Everett, Lamarfirst round at campus sites; rest at Thomas Assembly Center, Ruston, Louisiana
1986 Northeast Louisiana 59–57 McNeese State Arthur Hayes, Northeast Louisianafirst round at campus sites; rest at Fant–Ewing Coliseum, Monroe, Louisiana
1987 Louisiana Tech 58–51 Arkansas State Robert Godbolt, Louisiana Techfirst round at campus sites; rest at Thomas Assembly Center
1988 North Texas 87–70Northeast Louisiana Tony Worrell, North Texasfirst round at campus sites; rest at UNT Coliseum, Denton, Texas
1989 McNeese State 85–68North Texas Michael Cutright, McNeese Statefirst round at campus sites; rest at UNT Coliseum, Denton, Texas
1990 Northeast Louisiana 84–68North Texas Anthony Jones, Northeast LouisianaFant–Ewing Coliseum
1991 Northeast Louisiana 87–60Texas–Arlington Anthony Jones, Northeast Louisiana
1992 Northeast Louisiana 81–77 Texas–San Antonio Ryan Stuart, Louisiana-Monroe Convocation Center, San Antonio, Texas
1993 Northeast Louisiana 80–66Texas–San Antonio Ryan Stuart, Northeast LouisianaFant–Ewing Coliseum
1994 Southwest Texas State 69–60North TexasLynwood Wade, Southwest Texas State
1995 Nicholls State 98–87Northeast Louisiana Reggie Jackson, Nicholls Statefirst round at campus sites; rest at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana
1996 Northeast Louisiana 71–60North Texas Paul Marshall, Northeast LouisianaHirsch Memorial Coliseum
1997 Southwest Texas State 74–64Northeast LouisianaDameon Sansom, Texas State
1998 Nicholls State84–81Texas–ArlingtonDonald Harris, Texas–Arlington
1999 Texas–San Antonio71–63Southwest Texas StateSteve Meyer, Texas–San Antonio Gold Dome, Shreveport, Louisiana
2000 Lamar 62–55 Northwestern State Landon Rowe, Lamarfirst round at campus sites; rest at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
2001 Northwestern State72–71McNeese StateMichael Byars-Dawson, Northwestern Statefirst round at campus sites; rest at CenturyTel Center, Bossier City, Louisiana
2002 McNeese State65–43Louisiana-Monroe Fred Gentry, McNeese Stateall at campus sites; finals at Burton Coliseum, Lake Charles, Louisiana
2003 Sam Houston State 69–66 (OT) Stephen F. Austin Donald Cole, Sam Houston Stateall at campus sites; finals at Bernard Johnson Coliseum, Huntsville, Texas
2004 Texas–San Antonio74–70Stephen F. Austin LeRoy Hurd, Texas–San Antonioall at campus sites; finals at Convocation Center
2005 Southeastern Louisiana 49–42Northwestern State Ricky Woods, Southeastern Louisianaall at campus sites; finals at Prather Coliseum, Natchitoches, Louisiana
2006 Northwestern State95–87Sam Houston StateClifton Lee, Northwestern State
2007 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 81–78Northwestern State Chris Daniels, Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Campbell Center, Houston, Texas
2008 Texas–Arlington 82–79Northwestern StateAnthony Vereen, Texas–Arlington Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, Texas
2009 Stephen F. Austin 68–57 UTSA Matt Kingsley, Stephen F. AustinLeonard 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 70–49McNeese State Mike James, Lamar
2013 Northwestern State 68–66Stephen F. AustinShamir Davis, Northwestern State
2014 Stephen F. Austin *68–49Sam Houston State Thomas Walkup, Stephen F. Austin
2015 Stephen F. Austin *83–70Sam Houston State
2016 Stephen F. Austin *82–60Texas A&M–Corpus Christi
2017 New Orleans 68–65 (OT)Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Erik Thomas, New Orleans
2018 Stephen F. Austin *59–55Southeastern Louisiana T. J. Holyfield, Stephen F. Austin
2019 Abilene Christian 77–60New OrleansJaren Lewis, Abilene Christian
2020 Canceled due to COVID-19
2021 Abilene Christian 79–46NichollsKolton Kohl, Abilene ChristianLeonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, Texas
2022 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 73–65Southeastern LouisianaTerrion Murdix, Texas A&M–Corpus Christi
2023 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 75–71Northwestern StateJalen Jackson, Texas A&M–Corpus Christi The Legacy Center, Lake Charles, Louisiana
2024 McNeese 92–76Nicholls Shahada Wells, McNeese
2025 McNeese 63–54LamarQuadir Copeland, McNeese
2026
2027
2028
2029

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

Schools indicated in italics with a pink background are no longer in the SLC, as of the current 2024–25 NCAA basketball season. In 2024–25, UTRGV is playing its first SLC season, and Stephen F. Austin returned to the SLC after a three-year absence.

SchoolChampionshipsChampionship Years
Louisiana–Monroe 61986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996
Stephen F. Austin 5 [a] 2009, 2014 [a] , 2015 [a] , 2016 [a] , 2018 [a]
Lamar 41981, 1983, 2000, 2012
McNeese 41989, 2002, 2024, 2025
Northwestern State 32001, 2006, 2013
Louisiana Tech 31984, 1985, 1987
UTSA 31999, 2004, 2011
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 32007, 2022, 2023
Abilene Christian 22019, 2021
Nicholls 21995, 1998
Sam Houston State 22003, 2010
Texas State 21994, 1997
New Orleans 12017
North Texas 11988
Southeastern Louisiana 12005
Southwestern Louisiana 11982
UT Arlington 12008
TOTAL43
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Stephen F. Austin used academically ineligible players from 2013-2020.

All-Time Tournament Standings

SchoolRecordWinning pctChampionshipsRunners-upAppearances
Current Members
Lamar21–14.6004218
Northwestern State21–15.5833418
Stephen F. Austin23–17.5755422
New Orleans5-4.556105
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi8–8.500129
McNeese24-28.4612329
Southeastern Louisiana9-14.3911115
Nicholls9–15.3752017
Houston Christian3-6.333006
Incarnate Word0-0.000000
Former Members
Abilene Christian2–01.000101
Southwestern Louisiana
(now Louisiana)		4-1.800102
Louisiana Tech9-4.692317
Louisiana–Monroe21-16.5686422
UTSA17-15.5313318
Sam Houston20–20.5002322
North Texas11-11.5001512
Arkansas State4-6.400016
Texas State10-15.4002117
UT Arlington13-25.3421326
Oral Roberts1-2.333002
Central Arkansas1–3.250004

Italicized indicates former member as of the 2024–25 NCAA basketball season.
Sources: [3]

Television coverage

YearNetworkPlay-by-playAnalyst
2024 ESPN2 David Saltzman Ben Braun
2023
2022
2021 Matt Schick Joe Kleine
2020 Lowell Galindo Lance Blanks
2019 Reid Gettys
2018 Lance Blanks
2017
2016 Bob Wischusen Sean Harrington
2015 Mark Neely Stephen Howard
2014 [4] Carter Blackburn
2013 [5] Mark Adams
2012 [6] Dereck Whittenburg
2011 [7]
2010 [8] Lou Canellis Mike Kelley
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. ↑ "Championship Week Begins Thursday, March 4 | ESPN MediaZone". Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  8. ↑ "Championship Week Begins Thursday, March 4 | ESPN MediaZone". Archived from the original on 2010-04-12. Retrieved 2010-12-17.
  9. ↑ "20090226_ChampionshipWeekBeginsMarch5". Archived from the original on 2009-03-07. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  10. ↑ "Farther off the Wall". Archived from the original on 2011-09-23. Retrieved 2012-07-30.
  11. ↑ "What to Watch: College basketball lovers rejoice". Archived from the original on 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
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