2000 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament

The 2000 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 4–7 at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

2000 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1999–00
Teams	9
Site	Alltel Arena North Little Rock, AR
Champions	Louisiana–Lafayette (3rd title)
Winning coach	Jessie Evans (1st title)
MVP	Virgil Stanescu (South Alabama)
Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournaments

1999–2000 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
South Alabama	13	–	3		.813			20	–	10		.667
Louisiana–Lafayette †	13	–	3		.813			25	–	9		.735
Louisiana Tech	12	–	4		.750			21	–	8		.724
Florida International	9	–	7		.563			16	–	14		.533
Western Kentucky	8	–	8		.500			11	–	18		.379
Arkansas State	7	–	9		.438			10	–	18		.357
New Orleans	6	–	10		.375			11	–	18		.379
Denver	3	–	13		.188			6	–	22		.214
Arkansas-Little Rock	1	–	15		.063			4	–	24		.143
† 2000 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Louisiana–Lafayette defeated top-seeded South Alabama in the championship game, 51–50, to win their third Sun Belt men's basketball tournament.

The Ragin' Cajuns, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 2000 NCAA tournament. No other Sun Belt members earned bids to the tournament.

Format

The Sun Belt added one team, Denver, in the offseason, bringing total membership up to nine.

The tournament field also expanded, adding a preliminary first round for two of the lowest seeded teams in the conference. With all nine Sun Belt teams seeded based on regular season conference records, the ninth-seeded team, rather than entering the play-in game, was paired with the tournament's top seed directly in the quarterfinals. Instead, the seventh- and eighth-seeded teams contested the play-in game, with a chance to play the second-seeded team in the ensuing quarterfinal round.

Bracket

	First round Saturday, March 4					Quarterfinals Saturday, March 4 Sunday, March 5					Semifinals Monday, March 6					Championship Tuesday, March 7
						1	South Alabama	74
						9	Arkansas–Little Rock	58
											1	South Alabama	64
											5	Western Kentucky	61
						5	Western Kentucky	79
						4	Florida International	60
																1	South Alabama	50
																2	Louisiana–Lafayette	51
						3	Louisiana Tech	84
						6	Arkansas State	77
											3	Louisiana Tech	58
											2	Louisiana–Lafayette	73
	7	New Orleans	67
	8	Denver	65
						7	New Orleans	35
						2	Louisiana–Lafayette	55

See also

• Sun Belt Conference women's basketball tournament