| Southland Conference men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
| Conference basketball championship | |
 | |
| Sport | College basketball |
| Conference | Southland Conference |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament |
| Current stadium | The Legacy Center |
| Current location | Lake Charles, Louisiana |
| Played | 1981–present |
| Last contest | 2025 |
| Current champion | McNeese |
| Most championships | Northeast Louisiana (6) |
| TV partner | ESPN |
| Official website | Southland.org Men's Basketball |
| Sponsors | |
| Jersey Mike's Subs | |
TheSouthland Conference's men's basketball tournament began in 1981, with the winner of the tournament receiving the conference's automatic bid into theNCAA 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 atThe Legacy Center on the campus ofMcNeese State University inLake Charles, Louisiana, reportedly as part of a deal that kept McNeese in the Southland after it had been courted byConference USA and nearly joined theWestern Athletic Conference.[1] This move followed a 15-season run (2008–2022) atLeonard E. Merrell Center in theHouston suburb ofKaty, Texas.
| Year | Champion | Score | Runner-up | Tournament MVP | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Lamar | 83–69 | Louisiana Tech | Mike Olliver, Lamar | first round at campus sites; rest atBeaumont Civic Center,Beaumont, Texas |
| 1982 | Southwestern Louisiana | 81–75 | Texas–Arlington | Alford Turner, Southwestern Louisiana | Blackham Coliseum,Lafayette, Louisiana |
| 1983 | Lamar | 75–54 | North Texas State | 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 atThomas Assembly Center,Ruston, Louisiana |
| 1986 | Northeast Louisiana | 59–57 | McNeese State | Arthur Hayes, Northeast Louisiana | first round at campus sites; rest atFant–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 atUNT 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 atHirsch Memorial Coliseum,Shreveport, Louisiana |
| 1996 | Northeast Louisiana | 71–60 | North Texas | Paul Marshall, Northeast Louisiana | Hirsch 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 Coliseum |
| 2001 | Northwestern State | 72–71 | McNeese State | Michael Byars-Dawson, Northwestern State | first round at campus sites; rest atCenturyTel Center,Bossier City, Louisiana |
| 2002 | McNeese State | 65–43 | Louisiana-Monroe | Fred Gentry, McNeese State | all at campus sites; finals atBurton Coliseum,Lake Charles, Louisiana |
| 2003 | Sam Houston State | 69–66 (OT) | Stephen F. Austin | Donald Cole, Sam Houston State | all at campus sites; finals atBernard Johnson Coliseum,Huntsville, Texas |
| 2004 | Texas–San Antonio | 74–70 | Stephen F. Austin | LeRoy Hurd, Texas–San Antonio | all at campus sites; finals at Convocation Center |
| 2005 | Southeastern Louisiana | 49–42 | Northwestern State | Ricky Woods, Southeastern Louisiana | all at campus sites; finals atPrather Coliseum,Natchitoches, Louisiana |
| 2006 | 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, Texas |
| 2008 | Texas–Arlington | 82–79 | Northwestern State | Anthony Vereen, Texas–Arlington | Leonard E. Merrell Center,Katy, Texas |
| 2009 | Stephen F. Austin | 68–57 | UTSA | Matt Kingsley, Stephen F. Austin | Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, Texas |
| 2010 | Sam Houston State | 64–48 | Stephen F. Austin | 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. Austin | |
| 2015 | 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 toCOVID-19 | ||||
| 2021 | Abilene Christian | 79–46 | Nicholls | Kolton Kohl, Abilene Christian | Leonard E. Merrell Center, Katy, Texas |
| 2022 | 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, Lake Charles, Louisiana |
| 2024 | McNeese | 92–76 | Nicholls | Shahada Wells, McNeese | |
| 2025 | McNeese | 63–54 | Lamar | Quadir Copeland, McNeese | |
| 2026 | |||||
| 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 2013-2020.[2]
Schools indicated initalics 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, andStephen F. Austin returned to the SLC after a three-year absence.
| School | Championships | Championship Years |
|---|---|---|
| Louisiana–Monroe | 6 | 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996 |
| Stephen F. Austin | 5[a] | 2009, 2014[a], 2015[a], 2016[a], 2018[a] |
| Lamar | 4 | 1981, 1983, 2000, 2012 |
| McNeese | 4 | 1989, 2002, 2024, 2025 |
| 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 |
| Southwestern Louisiana | 1 | 1982 |
| UT Arlington | 1 | 2008 |
| East Texas A&M | 0 | |
| Houston Christian | 0 | |
| Incarnate Word | 0 | |
| UTRGV | 0 | |
| TOTAL | 43 |
| School | Record | Winning pct | Championships | Runners-up | Appearances |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Members | |||||
| Lamar | 21–14 | .600 | 4 | 2 | 18 |
| Northwestern State | 21–15 | .583 | 3 | 4 | 18 |
| Stephen F. Austin | 23–17 | .575 | 5 | 4 | 22 |
| New Orleans | 5-4 | .556 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Texas A&M-Corpus Christi | 8–8 | .500 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
| McNeese | 24-28 | .461 | 2 | 3 | 29 |
| Southeastern Louisiana | 9-14 | .391 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| Nicholls | 9–15 | .375 | 2 | 0 | 17 |
| Houston Christian | 3-6 | .333 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Incarnate Word | 0-0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Former Members | |||||
| Abilene Christian | 2–0 | 1.000 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana) | 4-1 | .800 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Louisiana Tech | 9-4 | .692 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| Louisiana–Monroe | 21-16 | .568 | 6 | 4 | 22 |
| UTSA | 17-15 | .531 | 3 | 3 | 18 |
| Sam Houston | 20–20 | .500 | 2 | 3 | 22 |
| North Texas | 11-11 | .500 | 1 | 5 | 12 |
| Arkansas State | 4-6 | .400 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Texas State | 10-15 | .400 | 2 | 1 | 17 |
| UT Arlington | 13-25 | .342 | 1 | 3 | 26 |
| Oral Roberts | 1-2 | .333 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Central Arkansas | 1–3 | .250 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Italicized indicates former member as of the 2024–25 NCAA basketball season.
Sources:[3]