The Southland Conference's men's basketball tournament began in 1981, with the winner of the tournament receiving the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.
From 1981 to 2001, the first round of the tournament took place at the higher seed, with the remaining rounds at a set location. In 2002, the Southland changed the format to play games at the campus of sites of each higher seed, during every round of the tournament. This was changed again in 2007, the first year that the conference selected a neutral site for all rounds of the tournament.
Starting with the 2023 edition, the event is held at The Legacy Center on the campus of McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, reportedly as part of a deal that kept McNeese in the Southland after it had been courted by Conference USA and nearly joined the Western Athletic Conference. This move followed a 15-season run (2008–2022) at Leonard E. Merrell Center in the Houston suburb of Katy, Texas.
Tournament results
Year Champion Score Runner-up Tournament MVP Location 1981 Lamar 83–69 Mike Olliver, Lamar first round at campus sites; rest at Beaumont Civic Center, Beaumont, Texas 1982 Southwestern Louisiana 81–75 Alford Turner, Southwestern Louisiana Blackham Coliseum, Lafayette, Louisiana 1983 Lamar 75–54 Kenneth Lyons, North Texas &Lamont Robinson, Lamar Beaumont Civic Center 1984 Louisiana Tech 68–65 Lamar Willie Simmons, Louisiana Tech first round at campus sites; rest at Beaumont Civic Center 1985 Louisiana Tech 70–69 Lamar Jerry Everett, Lamar first round at campus sites; rest at Thomas Assembly Center, Ruston, Louisiana 1986 Northeast Louisiana 59–57 Arthur Hayes, Northeast Louisiana first round at campus sites; rest at Fant–Ewing Coliseum, Monroe, Louisiana 1987 Louisiana Tech 58–51 Arkansas State Robert Godbolt, Louisiana Tech first round at campus sites; rest at Thomas Assembly Center 1988 North Texas 87–70 Northeast Louisiana Tony Worrell, North Texas first round at campus sites; rest at UNT Coliseum, Denton, Texas 1989 McNeese State 85–68 North Texas Michael Cutright, McNeese State first round at campus sites; rest at UNT Coliseum, Denton, Texas 1990 Northeast Louisiana 84–68 North Texas Anthony Jones, Northeast Louisiana Fant–Ewing Coliseum 1991 Northeast Louisiana 87–60 Texas–Arlington Anthony Jones, Northeast Louisiana 1992 Northeast Louisiana 81–77 Texas–San Antonio Ryan Stuart, Louisiana-Monroe Convocation Center, San Antonio, Texas 1993 Northeast Louisiana 80–66 Texas–San Antonio Ryan Stuart, Northeast Louisiana Fant–Ewing Coliseum 1994 Southwest Texas State 69–60 North Texas Lynwood Wade, Southwest Texas State 1995 Nicholls State 98–87 Northeast Louisiana Reggie Jackson, Nicholls State first round at campus sites; rest at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana 1996 Northeast Louisiana 71–60 North Texas Paul Marshall, Northeast LouisianaHirsch Memorial Coliseum 1997 Southwest Texas State 74–64 Northeast Louisiana Dameon Sansom, Texas State 1998 Nicholls State 84–81 Texas–Arlington Donald Harris, Texas–Arlington 1999 Texas–San Antonio 71–63 Southwest Texas State Steve Meyer, Texas–San Antonio Gold Dome, Shreveport, Louisiana 2000 Lamar 62–55 Northwestern State Landon Rowe, Lamar first round at campus sites; rest at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum2001 Northwestern State 72–71 McNeese State Michael Byars-Dawson, Northwestern State first round at campus sites; rest at CenturyTel Center, Bossier City, Louisiana2002 McNeese State 65–43 Louisiana-Monroe Fred Gentry, McNeese State all at campus sites; finals at Burton Coliseum, Lake Charles, Louisiana2003 Sam Houston State 69–66 (OT) Stephen F. Austin Donald Cole, Sam Houston State all at campus sites; finals at Bernard Johnson Coliseum, Huntsville, Texas2004 Texas–San Antonio 74–70 Stephen F. Austin LeRoy Hurd, Texas–San Antonio all at campus sites; finals at Convocation Center2005 Southeastern Louisiana 49–42 Northwestern State Ricky Woods, Southeastern Louisiana all at campus sites; finals at Prather Coliseum, Natchitoches, Louisiana2006 Northwestern State 95–87 Sam Houston State Clifton Lee, Northwestern State 2007 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 81–78 Northwestern State Chris Daniels, Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Campbell Center, Houston, Texas2008 Texas–Arlington 82–79 Northwestern State Anthony Vereen, Texas–Arlington Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, Texas2009 68–57 Matt Kingsley, Stephen F. Austin Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, Texas2010 Sam Houston State 64–48 Ashton Mitchell, Sam Houston State 2011 UTSA 75–72 McNeese State Devin Gibson, UTSA 2012 Lamar 70–49 McNeese State Mike James, Lamar 2013 Northwestern State 68–66 Stephen F. Austin Shamir Davis, Northwestern State 2014 Stephen F. Austin* 68–49 Sam Houston State Thomas Walkup, Stephen F. Austin2015 Stephen F. Austin* 83–70 Sam Houston State 2016 Stephen F. Austin* 82–60 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 2017 New Orleans 68–65 (OT) Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Erik Thomas, New Orleans 2018 Stephen F. Austin* 59–55 Southeastern Louisiana T. J. Holyfield, Stephen F. Austin 2019 Abilene Christian 77–60 New Orleans Jaren Lewis, Abilene Christian 2020 Canceled due to COVID-19 2021 Abilene Christian 79–46 Nicholls Kolton Kohl, Abilene Christian Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, Texas2022 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 73–65 Southeastern Louisiana Terrion Murdix, Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 2023 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi 75–71 Northwestern State Jalen Jackson, Texas A&M–Corpus Christi The Legacy Center/Townsley Law Arena, Lake Charles, Louisiana 2024 McNeese 92–76 Nicholls Shahada Wells, McNeese 2025 McNeese 63–54 Lamar Javohn Garcia, McNeese 2026 McNeese 76–59 Stephen F. Austin Javohn Garcia, McNeese 2027 2028 2029
Note: Northeast Louisiana and Southwestern Louisiana became Louisiana–Monroe and Louisiana–Lafayette, respectively, in 1999; the latter has since changed its athletic branding to solely Louisiana. Southwest Texas State became Texas State in 2003.
Note on asterisks: Stephen F. Austin kept academically ineligible players from 2013 to 2020.
Performance by school Schools indicated in italics with a pink background are no longer in the SLC, as of the current 2024–25 NCAA basketball season. In 2024–25, UTRGV is playing its first SLC season, and Stephen F. Austin returned to the SLC after a three-year absence. School Championships Championship Years Louisiana–Monroe 6 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996 McNeese 5 1989, 2002, 2024, 2025, 2026 Lamar 4 1981, 1983, 2000, 2012 Northwestern State 3 2001, 2006, 2013 Louisiana Tech 3 1984, 1985, 1987 UTSA 3 1999, 2004, 2011 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 3 2007, 2022, 2023 Abilene Christian 2 2019, 2021 Nicholls 2 1995, 1998 Sam Houston State 2 2003, 2010 Texas State 2 1994, 1997 New Orleans 1 2017 North Texas 1 1988 Southeastern Louisiana 1 2005 Stephen F. Austin 1 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 Southwestern Louisiana 1 1982 UT Arlington 1 2008 East Texas A&M 0 Houston Christian 0 Incarnate Word 0 UTRGV 0 TOTAL 44
All-Time Tournament Standings SchoolRecordWinning pctChampionshipsRunners-upAppearances Current Members Lamar 21–14.6004218Northwestern State21–15.5833418Stephen F. Austin23–17.5755422New Orleans5-4.556105Texas A&M-Corpus Christi8–8.500129McNeese24-28.4612329Southeastern Louisiana9-14.3911115Nicholls9–15.3752017Houston Christian3-7.300007Incarnate Word0-0.000000Former Members Abilene Christian 2–01.000101Southwestern Louisiana4-1.800102Louisiana Tech9-4.692317Louisiana–Monroe21-16.5686422UTSA17-15.5313318 Sam Houston20–20.5002322North Texas11-11.5001512Arkansas State4-6.400016Texas State10-15.4002117UT Arlington13-25.3421326Oral Roberts1-2.333002 Central Arkansas1–3.250004 Italicized indicates former member as of the 2024–25 NCAA basketball season. Sources:
NCAA Tournament Appearances Year Southland Team Opponent Result 1969 Trinity Texas A&M L 66–81 1972 Southwestern Louisiana MarshallLouisvilleTexas W 112–101L 84–88W 100–70 1973 Southwestern Louisiana HoustonKansas StateSouth Carolina W 102–89L 63–66L 85–90 1979 (10) Lamar (7) Detroit(2) Michigan State W 95–87L 64–95 1980 (10) Lamar (7) Weber State(2) Oregon State(6) Clemson W 87–86W 81–77L 66–74 1981 (8) Lamar (9) Missouri(1) LSU W 71–67L 78–100 1982 (8) Southwestern Louisiana (9) Tennessee L 57–61 1983 (11) Lamar (6) Alabama(3) Villanova W 73–50L 58–60 1984 (10) Louisiana Tech (7) Fresno State(2) Houston W 66–56L 69–77 1985 (5) Louisiana Tech (12) Pittsburgh(4) Ohio State(1) Oklahoma W 78–54W 79–67L 84–86OT 1986 (13) Northeast Louisiana (4) UNLV L 51–74 1987 (14) Louisiana Tech (3) DePaul L 62–76 1988 (15) North Texas (2) North Carolina L 65–83 1989 (16) McNeese State (1) Illinois L 71–77 1990 (15) Northeast Louisiana (2) Purdue L 63–75 1991 (15) Northeast Louisiana (2) Duke L 73–102 1992 (15) Northeast Louisiana (2) USC L 54–84 1993 (13) Northeast Louisiana (4) Iowa L 69–82 1994 (15) Southwest Texas State (2) UMass L 60–78 1995 (13) Nicholls State (4) Virginia L 72–96 1996 (15) Northeast Louisiana (2) Wake Forest L 50–62 1997 (16) Southwest Texas State (1) Minnesota L 46–78 1998 (16) Nicholls State (1) Arizona L 60–99 1999 (16) Texas-San Antonio (1) Connecticut L 66–91 2000 (16) Lamar (1) Duke L 55–82 2001 (16) Northwestern State (16) Winthrop(1) Illinois W 71–67L 54–96 2002 (14) McNeese State (3) Mississippi State L 58–70 2003 (15) Sam Houston State (2) Florida L 55–85 2004 (16) Texas-San Antonio (1) Stanford L 45–71 2005 (15) Southeastern Louisiana (2) Oklahoma State L 50–63 2006 (14) Northwestern State (3) Iowa(6) West Virginia W 64–63L 54–67 2007 (15) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (2) Wisconsin L 63–76 2008 (16) Texas-Arlington (1) Memphis L 63–87 2009 (14) Stephen F. Austin (3) Syracuse L 44–59 2010 (14) Sam Houston State (3) Baylor L 59–68 2011 (16) Texas-San Antonio (16) Alabama State(1) Ohio State W 70–61L 46–75 2012 (16) Lamar (16) Vermont L 59–71 2013 (14) Northwestern State (3) Florida L 47–79 2014 (12) Stephen F. Austin (5) VCU(4) UCLA W 77–75OTL 60–77 2015 (12) Stephen F. Austin (5) Utah L 50–57 2016 (14) Stephen F. Austin (3) West Virginia(6) Notre Dame W 70–56L 75–76 2017 (16) New Orleans (16) Mount St. Mary's L 66–67 2018 (14) Stephen F. Austin (3) Texas Tech L 60–70 2019 (15) Abilene Christian (2) Kentucky L 44–79 2021 (14) Abilene Christian (3) Texas(11) UCLA W 53–52L 47–67 2022 (16) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (16) Texas Southern L 67–76 2023 (16) Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (16) Southeast Missouri State(1) Alabama W 75–71L 75–96 2024 (12) McNeese (5) Gonzaga L 65–86 2025 (12) McNeese (5) Clemson(4) Purdue W 69–67L 62–76 2026 (12) McNeese (5) Vanderbilt L 68–78 2020 NCAA tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.
Television coverage Year Network Play-by-play Analyst 2024ESPN2David SaltzmanBen Braun 2023 2022 2021 Matt Schick Joe Kleine 2020Lowell Galindo Lance Blanks 2019 Reid Gettys 2018Lance Blanks 2017 2016 Bob Wischusen Sean Harrington 2015 Mark NeelyStephen Howard 2014Carter Blackburn 2013 Mark Adams 2012Dereck Whittenburg 2011 2010 Lou CanellisMike Kelley 2009Dave Barnett 2008 Bucky Walters 2007 Eric Collins Jimmy Dykes
See also Southland Conference women's basketball tournament
References