The Southland basketball tournament has an interesting dynamic this year with typical league powerhouse Stephen F. Austin ineligible to participate. Will top seed Nicholls take advantage? Or will Abilene Christian earn a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament? The following contains the Southland Tournament bracket and schedule, as well as a preview of what we can expect to see.
Be sure to visit our College Basketball Conference Tournaments Hub for more Champ Week coverage!
Southland Conference Standings
| Team | Conference Record | Overall Record | Tournament Outlook |
| Nicholls | 14-2 | 17-6 | 1 seed |
| Abilene Christian | 13-2 | 21-4 | 2 seed |
| Sam Houston State | 13-3 | 19-8 | 3 seed |
| Northwestern State | 9-7 | 10-17 | 4 seed |
| New Orleans | 8-7 | 9-14 | 5 seed |
| Lamar | 6-10 | 8-17 | 6 seed |
| Incarnate Word | 5-9 | 8-13 | 7 seed |
| Southeastern Louisiana | 5-10 | 7-17 | 8 seed |
| McNeese | 4-10 | 10-13 | 9 seed |
| Houston Baptist | 4-11 | 5-18 | 10 seed |
| Stephen F. Austin | 12-3 | 16-5 | N/A |
| Central Arkansas | 4-12 | 5-19 | N/A |
| Texas A&M CC | 2-13 | 5-19 | N/A |
Southland Tournament Schedule
Dates: March 9-13
TV: ESPN2, ESPN+
Site: Leonard E. Merrell Center — Katy, TX
Byes: Top-6 get single; Top-4 get double; Top-2 get triple
Most Recent Champion: Abilene Christian
Southland Tournament Bracket
First Round
- (10) Houston Baptist 80, (7) Incarnate Word 68
- (8) Southeastern Louisiana 71, (9) McNeese 68
Second Round
- (5) New Orleans 80, (8) Southeastern Louisiana 63
- (6) Lamar 62, (10) Houston Baptist 52
Third Round
- (6) Lamar 70, (3) Sam Houston State 69
- (4) Northwestern State 82, (5) New Orleans 79
Semifinals
- (1) Nicholls 88, (4) Northwestern State 76
- (2) Abilene Christian 93, (6) Lamar 71
Championship
- (2) Abilene Christian 79, (1) Nicholls 45
Abilene Christian advances to NCAA Tournament
Southland Conference Breakdown
With Stephen F. Austin unable to participate in this year’s Southland basketball tournament due to a series of APR errors, things feel a lot more open. Abilene Christian is the most recent Southland Tournament winner, but that was the Wildcats’ first-ever title. Outside of this and New Orleans winning the 2017 championship, all other Southland Tournaments have been won by Stephen F. Austin going back to 2014.
While they aren’t the top seed for the Southland basketball tournament, Abilene Christian is the only team from the conference ranked in the top 100 of the College Basketball Net at No. 85. Sam Houston State (157) and Nicholls (180) are the only other participating teams in the top 200 of the net rankings. When it comes to defense, Abilene Christian is light years ahead of the rest of the Southland Tournament field. The Wildcats allowed just 60.7 points per game this season, nearly 10 whole points better than the number two defense, Sam Houston State. Abilene Christian’s scoring margin of +16.2 was also by far the best in the league. Despite being just the 9-seed in the tournament, McNeese led the Southland in scoring offense this year with 80.8 points per game.
The Southland basketball preseason poll correctly predicted the top four teams but in the exact inverse order. Nicholls, Sam Houston State, Abilene Christian and Stephen F. Austin inverted the preseason poll projections based on where they finished in the final standings. The greatest overachiever in the Southland this year was Northwestern State. The Demons finished fifth and will be the 4-seed in the Southland Tournament after being picked to finish tenth. The largest underachiever was Central Arkansas. The Bears finished in 12th and failed to make the conference tournament field after being picked to finish seventh.
