1996 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1995–96
Teams10
SiteBarton Coliseum
Little Rock, AR
ChampionsNew Orleans (2nd title)
Winning coachTic Price (1st title)
MVPLewis Sims (New Orleans)
1995–96 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L PCTW L PCT
New Orleans †14–4 .77821–9  .700
Arkansas–Little Rock14–4 .77823–7  .767
Jacksonville10–8 .55615–13  .536
Western Kentucky10–8 .55613–14  .481
Southwestern Louisiana9–9 .50016–12  .571
Lamar7–11 .38912–15  .444
South Alabama7–11 .38912–15  .444
Arkansas State7–11 .3899–18  .333
Louisiana Tech6–12 .33311–17  .393
Texas–Pan American6–12 .3339–19  .321
† 1996 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 1–5 at Barton Coliseum in Little Rock, Arkansas.[1]

New Orleans defeated hosts, and fellow regular season co-champions, Arkansas–Little Rock in the championship game, 57–56, to win their second Sun Belt men's basketball tournament. It was UNO's first Sun Belt title since 1978 and first since being re-admitted to the conference in 1992.

The Privateers, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA tournament. No other Sun Belt members were invited to the tournament.

Format

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

With all teams participating in the tournament this year, the field increased from nine to ten teams. 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, March 1 		Quarterfinals
Saturday, March 2 		Semifinals
Sunday, March 3 		Championship
Tuesday, March 5
            
1 New Orleans 67
9 Louisiana Tech 57
9 Louisiana Tech 70
8 Arkansas State 65
1 New Orleans 75
5 SW Louisiana 71
5 SW Louisiana 98
4 Western Kentucky 94
1 New Orleans 57
2 Arkansas–Little Rock 56
3 Jacksonville 63
6 Lamar 62
3 Jacksonville 60
2 Arkansas–Little Rock 67
7 South Alabama 48
10 Texas–Pan American 61
10 UTPA 71
2 Arkansas–Little Rock 89

See also

References

  1. ↑ "1995–96 Sun Belt Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
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