The 1981 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 5–7 at HemisFair Arena in San Antonio, Texas. The first round took place March 2 at the higher seeded campus sites.
Number 2 seed Houston defeated 6 seed 84-59 to win their 2nd championship and receive the conference's automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA tournament.
Format and seeding The tournament consisted of 9 teams in a single-elimination tournament. The 3 seed received a bye to the Quarterfinals and the 1 and 2 seed received a bye to the Semifinals.
Place SeedTeam Conference Overall W L % W L %ArkansasHoustonTexas TechSMU
Tournament Date Winner Score Loser NotesFirst RoundMar 26 Texas58-447 Riceat Texas 4 Texas Tech80-589 SMUat Texas Tech 8 TCU62-605 Texas A&Mat Texas A&MQuarterfinalsMar 56 Texas66-584 Texas Tech 8 TCU56-473 BaylorSemifinalsMar 66 Texas76-731 Arkansas 2 Houston73-538 TCUFinals Mar 72 Houston84-596 Texas
References