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
ClassificationDivision I
Season1985–86
Teams7
First round siteCampus Sites
Campus Arenas
Finals siteFant-Ewing Coliseum
Monroe, Louisiana
ChampionsNortheast Louisiana (1st title)
Winning coachMike Vining (1st title)
MVPArthur Hayes (Northeast Louisiana)
← 1985
1987 →
1985–86 Southland Conference men's basketball standings
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 NCAA tournament. McNeese, Lamar, and Louisiana Tech received invitations to the 1986 NIT Tournament.

Format

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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

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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

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  1. ^ "1985-86 Southland Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference. Retrieved April 16, 2022.