1961 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1961 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament took place from March 2–4, 1961 at the Richmond Arena in Richmond, Virginia. The George Washington Colonials, led by head coach William Reinhart, won their second Southern Conference title and received the automatic berth to the 1961 NCAA tournament.

1961 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1960–61
Teams	8
Site	Richmond Arena Richmond, VA
Champions	George Washington (2nd title)
Winning coach	William Reinhart (2nd title)
Southern Conference men's basketball tournaments

1960–61 Southern Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 9 West Virginia	11	–	1		.917			23	–	4		.852
Virginia Tech	12	–	3		.800			15	–	7		.682
The Citadel	10	–	3		.769			17	–	8		.680
William & Mary	9	–	6		.600			14	–	10		.583
Furman	6	–	7		.462			15	–	11		.577
Richmond	5	–	11		.313			9	–	14		.391
George Washington †	3	–	9		.250			9	–	17		.346
VMI	3	–	11		.214			5	–	17		.227
Davidson	2	–	10		.167			9	–	14		.391
† Southern Conference Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Format

The top eight finishers of the conference's nine members were eligible for the tournament. Teams were seeded based on conference winning percentage. The tournament used a preset bracket consisting of three rounds.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals March 2					Semifinals March 3					Finals March 4
	1	#8 West Virginia	89
	8	VMI	71
						1	#8 West Virginia	76
						4	William & Mary	88
	4	William & Mary	86***
	5	Furman	84
											4	William & Mary	82
											7	George Washington	93
	2	Virginia Tech	83
	7	George Washington	84
						3	The Citadel	87
						7	George Washington	94
	3	The Citadel	70
	6	Richmond	66

* Overtime game

See also

• List of Southern Conference men's basketball champions