1977 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament

1977 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1976–77
Teams	6
Site	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC
Champions	UNC Charlotte (1st title)
Winning coach	Lee Rose (1st title)
MVP	Cedric Maxwell (UNC Charlotte)
Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournaments

1976–77 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 17 UNC Charlotte †	5	–	1		.833			28	–	5		.848
New Orleans	4	–	2		.667			18	–	10		.643
South Alabama	3	–	3		.500			17	–	10		.630
Jacksonville	2	–	4		.333			10	–	19		.345
South Florida	2	–	4		.333			9	–	18		.333
Georgia State	2	–	4		.333			10	–	18		.357
† 1977 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1977 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament was held February 27–March 11 at a combination of on-campus gymnasiums and the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.[1] This was the first edition of the tournament.

UNC Charlotte defeated New Orleans in the championship game, 71–70, to win their first Sun Belt men's basketball tournament.

The 49ers, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1977 NCAA tournament, where they defeated Central Michigan, Syracuse, and Michigan on their way to the Final Four before falling to eventual-champions Marquette.

Format

All six of the conference's members participated in the tournament field. They were seeded based on regular season conference records with the top two teams earning byes to the semifinal round. Quarter-Final games were played at the campus gym of the higher-seeded team. The Semi-Finals and Championship game, meanwhile, were played at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals Sunday, February 27					Semifinals Tuesday, March 8					Championship Wednesday, March 9
						1	#18 UNC Charlotte	74
						4	Jacksonville	69
	5	South Florida	49
	4	Jacksonville	64
											1	#18 UNC Charlotte	71
											2	New Orleans	70
	3	South Alabama	81
	6	Georgia State	82*
						6	Georgia State	66			Third place Friday, March 11
						2	New Orleans	86
											4	Jacksonville	102
											6	Georgia State	72

References

1. "1976-77 Sun Belt Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.