Sun Belt Men's Basketball Tournament

Sun Belt Men's Basketball Tournament
Conference Basketball Championship
Sport	College basketball
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Number of teams	13
Format	Single-elimination tournament
Current stadium	Summit Arena
Current location	Hot Springs, Arkansas
Played	1977-present
Last contest	2010 Sun Belt Tournament
Current champion	North Texas
Most championships	Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (6)
TV partner(s)	ESPN2
Official website	SunBeltSports.org Men's Basketball

The Sun Belt Men's Basketball Tournament has been played every year since the formation of the Sun Belt conference for the 1976-1977 academic year. The winner of the tournament is guaranteed an automatic berth into the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

The Sun Belt has a storied basketball history, sending multiple teams into the NCAA tournament in the 1980s and 1990s (most recently 1994), and then again in 2008 when both regular season champion South Alabama, and tournament winner Western Kentucky received bids.

Charlotte reached the Final Four in 1977, and future Sun Belt member Western Kentucky reached the Final Four in 1971. Overall, past and present Sun Belt schools have posted 21 wins in the NCAA Tournament, during the time they called the Sun Belt home.

Basketball Champions By Year

Season	Tournament Champion	Score	Runner-Up	MVP	Game Site
1977	UNC Charlotte	71-70	New Orleans	Cedric Maxwell, UNC Charlotte	First round at campus sites; rest at Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina
1978	New Orleans	22-20	South Alabama	Nate Mills, New Orleans	First round at campus sites; rest at Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina
1979	Jacksonville	68-54	South Florida	James Ray, Jacksonville	First round at campus sites; rest at Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina
1980	VCU	105-88	UAB	Edmund Sherod, VCU	First round at campus sites; rest at Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, North Carolina
1981	VCU	62-61 (OT)	UAB	Kenny Stancil, VCU	Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum; Jacksonville, FL
1982	UAB	94-83	VCU	Oliver Robinson, UAB	Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex; Birmingham, AL
1983	UAB	64-47	South Florida	Cliff Pruitt, UAB	Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex; Birmingham, AL
1984	UAB	62-60	Old Dominion	McKinley Singleton, UAB	Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex; Birmingham, AL
1985	VCU	87-82	Old Dominion	Mike Schlegel, VCU	Hampton Coliseum; Hampton, VA
1986	Jacksonville	70-69	UAB	Otis Smith, Jacksonville	Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex; Birmingham, AL
1987	UAB	72-60	Western Kentucky	Tracy Foster, UAB	E. A. Diddle Arena; Bowling Green, KY
1988	UNC Charlotte	81-79	VCU	Byron Dinkins, UNC Charlotte	Richmond Coliseum; Richmond, VA
1989	South Alabama	105-59	Jacksonville	Jeff Hodge, South Alabama	Charlotte Coliseum; Charlotte, North Carolina
1990	South Florida	81-74	UNC Charlotte	Radenko Dobras, South Florida	Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex; Birmingham, AL
1991	South Alabama	86-81	Old Dominion	Chris Gatling, Old Dominion	Mobile Civic Center; Mobile, AL
1992	Southwestern Louisiana	75-71	Louisiana Tech	Todd Hill, Southwestern Louisiana	Mississippi Coast Coliseum; Biloxi, MS
1993	Western Kentucky	72-63	New Orleans	Darnell Mee, Western Kentucky	Mississippi Coast Coliseum; Biloxi, MS
1994	Southwestern Louisiana	78-72	Western Kentucky	Michael Allen, Southwestern Louisiana	E. A. Diddle Arena; Bowling Green, KY
1995	Western Kentucky	82-79	UALR	Chris Robinson, Western Kentucky	Barton Coliseum; Little Rock, AR
1996	New Orleans	57-56	UALR	Lewis Sims, New Orleans	Barton Coliseum; Little Rock, AR
1997	South Alabama	44-43	Louisiana Tech	Rusty Yoder, South Alabama	Barton Coliseum; Little Rock, AR
1998	South Alabama	62-59	Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns	Toby Madison, South Alabama	Cajundome; Lafayette, LA
1999	Arkansas State	65-48	Western Kentucky	Chico Fletcher, Arkansas State	Cajundome; Lafayette, LA
2000	Louisiana-Lafayette	51-50	South Alabama	Virgil Stanescu, South Alabama	Alltel Arena; Little Rock, AR
2001	Western Kentucky	64-54	South Alabama	Chris Marcus, Western Kentucky	Mitchell Center; Mobile, AL
2002	Western Kentucky	76-70	University of Louisiana at Lafayette	Derek Robinson, Western Kentucky	Lakefront Arena; New Orleans, LA
2003	Western Kentucky	64-52	Middle Tennessee	Patrick Sparks, Western Kentucky	E. A. Diddle Arena; Bowling Green, KY
2004	Louisiana-Lafayette	67-58	New Orleans	Bo McCalebb, New Orleans	E. A. Diddle Arena; Bowling Green, KY
2005	Louisiana-Lafayette	88-69	Denver	Tiras Wade, Louisiana-Lafayette	UNT Coliseum; Denton, TX
2006	South Alabama	95-70	Western Kentucky	Chey Christie, South Alabama	Murphy Center, Murfreesboro, TN
2007	North Texas	83-75	Arkansas State	Calvin Watson, North Texas	First round at campus sites; rest at Cajundome; Lafayette, LA
2008	Western Kentucky	67-57	Middle Tennessee	Jeremy Evans, Western Kentucky	First round at campus sites; rest at Mitchell Center; Mobile, AL
2009	Western Kentucky	64-55	South Alabama	A. J. Slaughter, Western Kentucky	Summit Arena; Hot Springs, Arkansas
2010	North Texas	66-63	Troy	Eric Tramiel, North Texas	Summit Arena; Hot Springs, Arkansas
2011					Summit Arena; Hot Springs, Arkansas

Note: 'Southwestern Louisiana' became the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, in 1999.

Performance By School

Member	Winners	Winning Years
Western Kentucky	7	1993, 1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009
South Alabama	5	1989, 1991, 1997, 1998, 2006
UL-Lafayette	5	1992, 1994, 2000, 2004, 2005
UAB	4	1982, 1983, 1984, 1987
VCU	3	1980, 1981, 1985
UNO	2	1978, 1996
Charlotte	2	1977, 1988
Jacksonville	2	1979, 1986
North Texas	2	2007, 2010
Arkansas State	1	1999
South Florida	1	1990
TOTAL	33

• Teams in bold represent current conference members

Television

Main article: Sun Belt Conference Tournament Finals broadcasters

See also

• Sun Belt Women's Basketball Tournament

References

Men's Conference Basketball Tournaments

NCAA Division I men's basketball conference tournaments

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