1986 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament
The 1986 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 4–6, 1986 with quarterfinal matchups being held at the home arena of the higher seed and the semifinals and championship game played at Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, Louisiana.[1]
| 1986 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 1985–86 |
| Teams | 7 |
| First round site | Campus Sites Campus Arenas |
| Finals site | Fant-Ewing Coliseum Monroe, Louisiana |
| Champions | Northeast Louisiana (1st title) |
| Winning coach | Mike Vining (1st title) |
| MVP | Arthur Hayes (Northeast Louisiana) |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NE Louisiana † | 9 | – | 3 | .750 | 20 | – | 10 | .667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| McNeese State | 8 | – | 4 | .667 | 21 | – | 11 | .656 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arkansas State | 7 | – | 5 | .583 | 18 | – | 11 | .621 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lamar | 6 | – | 6 | .500 | 18 | – | 12 | .600 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana Tech | 6 | – | 6 | .500 | 20 | – | 14 | .588 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| North Texas State | 4 | – | 8 | .333 | 10 | – | 18 | .357 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UT Arlington | 2 | – | 10 | .167 | 12 | – | 18 | .400 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 1986 Southland Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Northeast Louisiana defeated McNeese State in the championship game, 59–57, to win their first Southland men's basketball tournament.
The Indians received a bid to the 1986 NCAA Tournament as No. 13 seed in the West region. They were the only Southland member invited to the tournament.
Format
All seven of the conference's members participated in the tournament field. They were seeded based on regular season conference records, with the top seed earning a bye into the semifinal round. The other six teams began play in the quarterfinal round.
First round games were played at the home court of the higher-seeded team. All remaining games were played at the Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, Louisiana.
Bracket
| Quarterfinals Tuesday, March 4 | Semifinals Wednesday, March 5 | Championship Thursday, March 6 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | NE Louisiana | 57 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Louisiana Tech | 56 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Lamar | 58 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Louisiana Tech | 60 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | NE Louisiana | 59 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | McNeese State | 57 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Arkansas State | 79 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | North Texas State | 71 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Arkansas State | 57 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | McNeese State | 68 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | McNeese State | 83 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Texas-Arlington | 71 | ||||||||||||
References
- "1985-86 Southland Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved April 16, 2022.