# 1979–80 South Alabama Jaguars basketball team

The 1979–80 South Alabama Jaguars basketball team represented the University of South Alabama during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Jaguars were led by head coach Cliff Ellis, in his fifth year as head coach. They played their home games at the Mobile Civic Center, and were members of the Sun Belt Conference. South Alabama finished the season 23–6, 12–2 in Sun Belt play to finish in first place. They were upset by Jacksonville in the Sun Belt tournament, but did receive an at-large bid to the 1980 NCAA tournament as the No. 8 seed in the Midwest region. In the opening round, the Jaguars lost to Alcorn State, 70–62.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Dec 1, 1979* | | at No. 10 Louisville | L 73–75 | 0–1 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Dec 3, 1979* | | McNeese State | W 61–58 | 1–1 | Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama |
| Dec 7, 1979* | | at Tennessee Tech | W 97–68 | 2–1 | Eblen Center Cookeville, Tennessee |
| Dec 8, 1979* | | at Middle Tennessee | W 55–49 | 3–1 | Murphy Center Murfreesboro, Tennessee |
| Dec 13, 1979* | | at Hardin-Simmons | W 81–63 | 4–1 | |
| Dec 15, 1979* | | Oregon Tech | W 98–62 | 5–1 | Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama |
| Dec 17, 1979 | | at VCU | W 60–56 | 6–1 (1–0) | Richmond Coliseum Richmond, Virginia |
| Dec 19, 1979 | | at New Orleans | W 65–54 | 7–1 (2–0) | Human Performance Center New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Dec 27, 1979* | | Rider Senior Bowl | W 101–72 | 8–1 | Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama |
| Dec 28, 1979* | | Alcorn State Senior Bowl | L 77–82 | 8–2 | Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama |
| Jan 3, 1980* | | Missouri Baptist | W 105–47 | 9–2 | Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama |
| Jan 5, 1980 | | VCU | L 74–87 | 9–3 (2–1) | Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama |
| Jan 7, 1980 | | at Georgia State | W 70–61 | 10–3 (3–1) | GSU Sports Arena Atlanta, Georgia |
| Jan 9, 1980 | | at Jacksonville | W 64–63 | 11–3 (4–1) | Jacksonville Coliseum Jacksonville, Florida |
| Jan 13, 1980 | | South Florida | W 85–55 | 12–3 (5–1) | Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama |
| Jan 16, 1980 | | Georgia State | W 70–59 | 13–3 (6–1) | Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama |
| Jan 18, 1980 | | New Orleans | W 74–56 | 14–3 (7–1) | Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama |
| Jan 24, 1980 | | UAB | L 62–70 | 14–4 (7–2) | Mobile Civic Center (10,513) Mobile, Alabama |
| Jan 26, 1980 | | at UNC Charlotte | W 80–69 | 15–4 (8–2) | Independence Arena Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Jan 28, 1980 | | at South Florida | W 88–72 | 16–4 (9–2) | Curtis Hixon Hall Tampa, Florida |
| Jan 30, 1980 | | UNC Charlotte | W 66–65 | 17–4 (10–2) | Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama |
| Feb 4, 1980 | | Jacksonville | W 65–58 | 18–4 (11–2) | Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama |
| Feb 7, 1980* | | at Georgia Southern | W 94–79 | 19–4 | Hanner Fieldhouse Statesboro, Georgia |
| Feb 12, 1980* | | Georgia Southern | W 89–61 | 20–4 | Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama |
| Feb 15, 1980* | | Hardin-Simmons | W 76–64 | 21–4 | Jaguar Gym Mobile, Alabama |
| Feb 17, 1980 | | at UAB | W 66–65 | 22–4 (12–2) | BJCC Arena (8,352) Birmingham, Alabama |
| Sun Belt Conference tournament ||||||
| Feb 23, 1980* | | vs. South Florida Quarterfinals | W 86–57 | 23–4 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Feb 24, 1980* | | vs. VCU Semifinals | L 72–74 | 23–5 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 7, 1980* | (9 MW) | vs. (8 MW) Alcorn State First round | L 62–70 | 23–6 | UNT Coliseum Denton, Texas |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time. ||||||