1997 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1997 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament was held February 28–March 4 at Barton Coliseum in Little Rock, Arkansas.[1]

1997 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1996–97
Teams10
SiteBarton Coliseum
Little Rock, AR
ChampionsSouth Alabama (3rd title)
Winning coachBill Musselman (1st title)
MVPRusty Yoder (South Alabama)
← 1996
1998 →
1996–97 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
New Orleans 14 4   .778 22 7   .759
South Alabama 14 4   .778 23 7   .767
Arkansas–Little Rock 11 7   .611 18 11   .621
Lamar 10 8   .556 15 12   .556
Louisiana Tech 10 8   .556 15 14   .517
Western Kentucky 9 9   .500 12 15   .444
Southwestern Louisiana 9 9   .500 12 16   .429
Arkansas State 8 10   .444 15 12   .556
Jacksonville 4 14   .222 5 23   .179
Texas–Pan American 1 17   .056 3 25   .107
1997 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

South Alabama defeated Louisiana Tech in the championship game, 44–43, to win their third Sun Belt men's basketball tournament.

The Jaguars, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA tournament. No other Sun Belt members were invited to the tournament.

Format

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No teams left or joined the Sun Belt before the season, leaving conference membership fixed at ten teams.

All teams participated in the tournament, maintaining its ten-team format. With all teams seeded based on regular-season conference records, the top six teams were all placed directly into the quarterfinal round while the four lowest-seeded teams were placed into the preliminary first round.

Bracket

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First round
Friday, February 28
Quarterfinals
Saturday, March 1
Semifinals
Sunday, March 2
Championship
Tuesday, March 4
            
1 New Orleans 76
9 Jacksonville 63
9 Jacksonville 101
8 Arkansas State 80
1 New Orleans 53
5 Louisiana Tech 59
5 Louisiana Tech 64
4 Lamar 62
5 Louisiana Tech 43
2 South Alabama 44
3 Arkansas–Little Rock 68
6 Western Kentucky 62
3 Arkansas–Little Rock 52
2 South Alabama 71
7 Southwestern Louisiana 56
10 Texas–Pan American 53
7 Southwestern Louisiana 39
2 South Alabama 66

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "1996–97 Sun Belt Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.