2001 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament

2001 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2000–01
Teams11
SiteMitchell Center
Mobile, AL
ChampionsWestern Kentucky (3rd title)
Winning coachDennis Felton (1st title)
MVPChris Marcus (Western Kentucky)
← 2000
2002 →
2000–01 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East
Western Kentucky † 14 – 2   .875 24 – 7   .774
Arkansas State 10 – 6   .625 17 – 13   .567
Louisiana Tech 10 – 6   .625 17 – 12   .586
Arkansas-Little Rock 9 – 7   .563 18 – 11   .621
Florida International 5 – 11   .313 8 – 21   .276
Middle Tennessee 1 – 15   .063 5 – 22   .185
West
South Alabama 11 – 5   .688 22 – 11   .667
Louisiana–Lafayette 10 – 6   .625 16 – 13   .552
New Orleans 10 – 6   .625 17 – 12   .586
New Mexico State 10 – 6   .625 14 – 14   .500
Denver 5 – 11   .313 10 – 18   .357
North Texas 1 – 15   .063 4 – 24   .143
† 2001 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll


The 2001 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 2–6 at the Mitchell Center at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama.[1]

Top-seeded Western Kentucky defeated hosts South Alabama in the championship game, 64–54, to win their third Sun Belt men's basketball tournament.

The Hilltoppers, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 2001 NCAA tournament. No other Sun Belt members earned bids to the tournament.

Format

The Sun Belt added three new teams prior to the 2000–01 season: Middle Tennessee State (Ohio Valley), New Mexico State (Big West), and North Texas (Big West). The conference's total membership increased to twelve.

The tournament field expanded once again, increasing from nine to eleven teams (NMSU did not compete). With all eleven participating Sun Belt members seeded based on regular season conference records, the five highest-seeded teams were awarded byes into the quarterfinal round while the six lowest-seeded teams entered the bracket in the preliminary first round.

Bracket

First round
Friday, March 2 		Quarterfinals
Saturday, March 3
Sunday, March 4 		Semifinals
Monday, March 5 		Championship
Tuesday, March 6
            
1E Western Kentucky 68
5E Florida International 51
5E Florida International 59
4W Denver 52
1E Western Kentucky 82
2W Louisiana–Lafayette 75
3E Louisiana Tech 56
2W Louisiana–Lafayette 63
1E Western Kentucky 64
1W South Alabama 54
2E Arkansas State 82
3W New Orleans 73
6E Middle Tennessee 61
3W New Orleans 66*
2E Arkansas State 53
1W South Alabama 76
4E Arkansas–Little Rock 80
5W North Texas 67
4E Arkansas–Little Rock 62
1W South Alabama 85

See also

References

  1. ^ "2000–01 Sun Belt Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 30, 2016.