2000 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament

The 2000 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 4–7 at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas.[1]

2000 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1999–00
Teams9
SiteAlltel Arena
North Little Rock, AR
ChampionsLouisiana–Lafayette (3rd title)
Winning coachJessie Evans (1st title)
MVPVirgil Stanescu (South Alabama)
← 1999
2001 →
1999–2000 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
South Alabama 13 3   .813 20 10   .667
Louisiana–Lafayette 13 3   .813 25 9   .735
Louisiana Tech 12 4   .750 21 8   .724
Florida International 9 7   .563 16 14   .533
Western Kentucky 8 8   .500 11 18   .379
Arkansas State 7 9   .438 10 18   .357
New Orleans 6 10   .375 11 18   .379
Denver 3 13   .188 6 22   .214
Arkansas-Little Rock 1 15   .063 4 24   .143
2000 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

Louisiana–Lafayette defeated top-seeded South Alabama in the championship game, 51–50, to win their third Sun Belt men's basketball tournament.

The Ragin' Cajuns, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 2000 NCAA tournament. No other Sun Belt members earned bids to the tournament.

Format

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The Sun Belt added one team, Denver, in the offseason, bringing total membership up to nine.

The tournament field also expanded, adding a preliminary first round for two of the lowest seeded teams in the conference. With all nine Sun Belt teams seeded based on regular season conference records, the ninth-seeded team, rather than entering the play-in game, was paired with the tournament's top seed directly in the quarterfinals. Instead, the seventh- and eighth-seeded teams contested the play-in game, with a chance to play the second-seeded team in the ensuing quarterfinal round.

Bracket

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First round
Saturday, March 4
Quarterfinals
Saturday, March 4
Sunday, March 5
Semifinals
Monday, March 6
Championship
Tuesday, March 7
            
1 South Alabama 74
9 Arkansas–Little Rock 58
1 South Alabama 64
5 Western Kentucky 61
5 Western Kentucky 79
4 Florida International 60
1 South Alabama 50
2 Louisiana–Lafayette 51
3 Louisiana Tech 84
6 Arkansas State 77
3 Louisiana Tech 58
2 Louisiana–Lafayette 73
7 New Orleans 67
8 Denver 65
7 New Orleans 35
2 Louisiana–Lafayette 55

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1999–00 Sun Belt Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.