1998 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament

1998 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1997–98
Teams10
SiteCajundome
Lafayette, LA
ChampionsSouth Alabama (4th title)
Winning coachBob Weltlich (1st title)
MVPToby Madison (South Alabama)
← 1997
1999 →
1997–98 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
South Alabama † 14 – 4   .778 21 – 7   .750
Arkansas State 14 – 4   .778 20 – 9   .690
Southwestern Louisiana 12 – 6   .667 18 – 13   .581
Arkansas–Little Rock 10 – 8   .556 15 – 13   .536
Louisiana Tech 9 – 9   .500 12 – 15   .444
New Orleans 9 – 9   .500 15 – 12   .556
Lamar 7 – 11   .389 15 – 14   .517
Jacksonville 6 – 12   .333 8 – 19   .296
Western Kentucky 6 – 12   .333 10 – 19   .345
Texas–Pan American 3 – 15   .167 3 – 24   .111
† 1998 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1998 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament was held February 27–March 3 at the Cajundome at the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette, Louisiana.[1]

Top-seeded South Alabama defeated hosts Southwestern Louisiana in the championship game, 62–59, to win their fourth overall, and second consecutive, Sun Belt men's basketball tournament.

The Jaguars, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA tournament. No other Sun Belt members earned bids to the tournament.

Format

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

First round
Friday, February 27 		Quarterfinals
Saturday, February 28 		Semifinals
Sunday, March 1 		Championship
Tuesday, March 3
            
1 South Alabama 61
9 Western Kentucky 47
9 Western Kentucky 75
8 Jacksonville 70
1 South Alabama 79
4 Arkansas–Little Rock 48
5 Louisiana Tech 61
4 Arkansas–Little Rock 74
1 South Alabama 62
3 Southwestern Louisiana 59
3 Southwestern Louisiana 76
6 New Orleans 69
3 Southwestern Louisiana 81
7 Lamar 65
7 Lamar 103
10 Texas–Pan American 89
7 Lamar 70
2 Arkansas State 54

See also

References

  1. ^ "1997–98 Sun Belt Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.