# 2021 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament

The 2021 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the 2020–21 season in the Southland Conference. The tournament took place from March 9–13, 2021. The tournament winner received an automatic invitation to the 2021 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

## Seeds

Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tie–breaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. Only the top 10 teams in the conference qualified for the tournament. The top two seeds received triple byes into the semifinals in the merit-based format. The No. 3 and No. 4 seeds received double byes to the quarterfinals. Stephen F. Austin is serving a postseason ban and did not compete.
| Seed | School | Conference |
| 1 | Nicholls | 14–2 |
| 2 | Abilene Christian | 13–2 |
| 3 | Sam Houston State | 13–3 |
| 4 | Northwestern State | 9–7 |
| 5 | New Orleans | 8–7 |
| 6 | Lamar | 6–10 |
| 7 | Incarnate Word | 5–9 |
| 8 | Southeastern Louisiana | 5–10 |
| 9 | McNeese State | 4–10 |
| 10 | Houston Baptist | 4–11 |

## Schedule

| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup$^#$ | Score | Television |
| First round – Tuesday, March 9, 2021 ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 8 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 9 McNeese State | 71–68 | ESPN+ |
| 1 | 2 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 7 Incarnate Word vs. No. 10 Houston Baptist | 68–80 | ESPN+ |
| Second round – Wednesday, March 10, 2021 ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 8 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 5 New Orleans | 63–80 | ESPN+ |
| 2 | 4 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 10 Houston Baptist vs. No. 6 Lamar | 52–62 | ESPN+ |
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 11, 2021 ||||||
| 3 | 5 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 5 New Orleans vs. No. 4 Northwestern State | 79–82 | ESPN+ |
| 3 | 6 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 6 Lamar vs. No. 3 Sam Houston State | 70–69 | ESPN+ |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 12, 2021 ||||||
| 3 | 7 | 5:00 p.m. | No. 4 Northwestern State vs. No. 1 Nicholls | 76–88 | ESPN+ |
| 3 | 8 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 6 Lamar vs. No. 2 Abilene Christian | 71–93 | ESPN+ |
| Championship – Saturday, March 13, 2021 ||||||
| 4 | 7 | 8:30 p.m. | No. 1 Nicholls vs. No. 2 Abilene Christian | 45–79 | ESPN2 |
| *Game times in CST. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding. ||||||
Source

## Bracket

| First round Tuesday, March 9 ESPN+ | First round Tuesday, March 9 ESPN+ | First round Tuesday, March 9 ESPN+ | Second round Wednesday, March 10 ESPN+ | Second round Wednesday, March 10 ESPN+ | Second round Wednesday, March 10 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 11 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 11 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Thursday, March 11 ESPN+ | Semifinals Friday, March 12 ESPN+ | Semifinals Friday, March 12 ESPN+ | Semifinals Friday, March 12 ESPN+ | Championship Saturday, March 13 ESPN2 | Championship Saturday, March 13 ESPN2 | Championship Saturday, March 13 ESPN2 |
| 8 | Southeastern Louisiana | 71 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | McNeese State | 68 | 5 | New Orleans | 80 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Southeastern Louisiana | 63 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Northwestern State | 82 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | New Orleans | 79 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | Nicholls | 88 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 4 | Northwestern State | 76 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | Nicholls | 45 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | Abilene Christian | 79 |
| | | | | | | | | | 2 | Abilene Christian | 93 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | 6 | Lamar | 71 | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Sam Houston State | 69 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 6 | Lamar | 70 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Lamar | 62 | | | | | | | | | |
| 7 | Incarnate Word | 68 | 10 | Houston Baptist | 52 | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Houston Baptist | 80 | | | | | | | | | | | | |