1981 Big Eight Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1981 Big Eight men's basketball tournament was held March 3–5 at a combination of on-campus gymnasiums and Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.[2]

1981 Big Eight Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1980–81
Teams8
First round siteCampus Sites
Campus Arenas
Finals siteKemper Arena
Kansas City, MO
ChampionsKansas (1st title)
Winning coachTed Owens (1st title)
MVPDarnell Valentine (Kansas)
← 1980
1982 →
1980–81 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Missouri 10 4   .714 22 10   .688
Kansas State 9 5   .643 24 9   .727
Nebraska 9 5   .643 15 12   .556
Kansas 9 5   .643 24 8   .750
Oklahoma State 8 6   .571 18 9   .667
Colorado 5 9   .357 16 12   .571
Oklahoma 4 10   .286 9 18   .333
Iowa State 2 12   .143 9 18   .333
1981 Big Eight tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll[1]

In a rematch of the 1980 final (won by KSU), Kansas upset rivals Kansas State in the championship game, 80–68, to win their first Big Eight men's basketball tournament.

The Jayhawks, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA tournament. They were joined in the tournament by fellow Big Eight members Missouri and Kansas State, who earned at-large bids.

Format edit

All eight of the conference's members participated in the tournament field. They were seeded based on regular season conference records, with all teams placed and paired in the initial quarterfinal round.

All first-round games were played on the home court of the higher-seeded team. The semifinals and championship game, in turn, were played at a neutral site at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.

Bracket edit

Quarterfinals
Tuesday, March 3
Semifinals
Wednesday, March 4
Championship
Thursday, March 5
         
1 Missouri 95
8 Iowa State 70
1 Missouri 70
4 Kansas 75
5 Oklahoma State 69
4 Kansas 96
4 Kansas 80
2 Kansas State 68
3 Nebraska 66
6 Colorado 70
6 Colorado 61
2 Kansas State 64
7 Oklahoma 56
2 Kansas State 75

References edit

  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1980-81 Big Eight Conference Season Summary
  2. ^ "1980-81 Big 8 Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved May 10, 2016.