2026 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament
| 2026 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | Townsley Law Arena Lake Charles, Louisiana |
| Champions | McNeese (5th title) |
| Winning coach | Bill Armstrong (1st title) |
| MVP | Javohn Garcia (McNeese) |
| Attendance | 5,272 (championship) |
| Television | ESPN+, ESPNU, ESPN2 |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stephen F. Austin | 20 | – | 2 | .909 | 28 | – | 6 | .824 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| McNeese † | 19 | – | 3 | .864 | 28 | – | 5 | .848 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UT Rio Grande Valley | 14 | – | 8 | .636 | 19 | – | 14 | .576 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 13 | – | 9 | .591 | 18 | – | 15 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Orleans | 12 | – | 10 | .545 | 15 | – | 18 | .455 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nicholls | 12 | – | 10 | .545 | 14 | – | 19 | .424 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern State | 8 | – | 14 | .364 | 10 | – | 22 | .313 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Houston Christian | 8 | – | 14 | .364 | 12 | – | 20 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Incarnate Word | 7 | – | 15 | .318 | 12 | – | 19 | .387 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lamar | 7 | – | 15 | .318 | 12 | – | 19 | .387 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| East Texas A&M | 6 | – | 16 | .273 | 11 | – | 21 | .344 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southeastern Louisiana | 6 | – | 16 | .273 | 9 | – | 22 | .290 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 Southland tournament winner As of March 17, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the 2025–26 season of the Southland Conference. The tournament was held March 8–11, 2026, at Townsley Law Arena in Lake Charles, Louisiana.[1][2] The tournament winner, McNeese, received the conference's automatic invitation to the 2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Seeds
Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tie–breaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. Eight teams in the conference qualified for the tournament. The top two seeds received double byes into the semifinals in the merit-based format. The No. 3 and No. 4 seeds receive dsingle byes to the quarterfinals. Tiebreakers used are 1) Head-to-head results, 2) comparison of records against individual teams in the conference starting with the top-ranked team(s) and working down and 3) NCAA NET rankings available on day following the conclusion of regular-season play.[3]
| Seed | School | Conference | Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen F. Austin | 20–2 | |
| 2 | McNeese | 19–3 | |
| 3 | UT Rio Grande Valley | 14–8 | |
| 4 | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 13–9 | |
| 5 | New Orleans | 12–10 | 1–1 vs. Stephen F. Austin |
| 6 | Nicholls | 12–10 | 0–2 vs. Stephen F. Austin |
| 7 | Northwestern State | 8–14 | 1–1 vs. UT Rio Grande Valley |
| 8 | Houston Christian | 8–14 | 0–2 vs. UT Rio Grande Valley |
| DNQ | Incarnate Word | 7–15 | 1–1 vs. McNeese |
| DNQ | Lamar | 7–15 | 0–2 vs. McNeese |
| DNQ | East Texas A&M | 6–16 | 2–0 vs. Southeastern Louisiana |
| DNQ | Southeastern Louisiana | 6–16 | 0–2 vs. East Texas A&M |
Schedule
| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup# | Score | Television | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Sunday, March 8 | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 5 New Orleans vs. No. 8 Houston Christian | 73–60 | ESPN+ | 2,835 |
| 2 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 6 Nicholls vs. No. 7 Northwestern State | 61–47 | |||
| Quarterfinals – Monday, March 9 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 4 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi vs. No. 5 New Orleans | 74–61 | ESPN+ | |
| 4 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 3 UT Rio Grande Valley vs. No. 6 Nicholls | 86–68 | |||
| Semifinals – Tuesday, March 10 | ||||||
| 3 | 5 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 1 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 4 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 60–58 | ESPNU | 4,481 |
| 6 | 8:30 p.m. | No. 2 McNeese vs. No. 3 UT Rio Grande Valley | 84–803OT | ESPN+ | ||
| Championship – Wednesday, March 11 | ||||||
| 4 | 7 | 4:00 p.m. | No. 1 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 2 McNeese | 59–76 | ESPN2 | 5,272 |
| *Game times in CDT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. | ||||||
Bracket
| First round Sunday, March 8 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Monday, March 9 ESPN+ | Semifinals Tuesday, March 10 ESPNU/ESPN+ | Championship Wednesday, March 11 ESPN2 | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Stephen F. Austin | 60 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 74 | 4 | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 58 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | New Orleans | 73 | 5 | New Orleans | 61 | 1 | Stephen F. Austin | 59 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Houston Christian | 60 | 2 | McNeese | 76 | |||||||||||||
| 2 | McNeese | 84*** | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | UT Rio Grande Valley | 86 | 3 | UT Rio Grande Valley | 80 | |||||||||||||
| 6 | Nicholls | 61 | 6 | Nicholls | 68 | |||||||||||||
| 7 | Northwestern State | 47 | ||||||||||||||||
* denotes overtime period
Awards and honors
| 2026 Southland Conference Men's Basketball All-Tournament Team [4] | |
| |
See also
References
- ^ "2026 Air Force Reserve Southland Conference Basketball Championships pres. by Louisiana Office of Tourism - Southland Conference". www.southland.org. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
- ^ Travis, Matthew (August 29, 2023). "Southland to hold basketball conference championships in Lake Charles through 2029". KPLC. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
- ^ "Basketball Tie-Breaking Procedures". Southland Conference. Retrieved February 2, 2025.
- ^ "No. 2 McNeese Powers Past No. 1 SFA to Capture Third Consecutive Southland Men's Basketball Championship". www.southland.org. March 11, 2026. Retrieved March 16, 2026.