1977 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament explained

Year:1977
Conference:Sun Belt Conference
Division:I
Gender:Men's
Teams:6
Arena:Charlotte Coliseum
Champions:UNC Charlotte
Titlecount:1st
Coach:Lee Rose
Coachcount:1st
Mvp:Cedric Maxwell
Mvpteam:UNC Charlotte
Firsttournamentever:yes

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 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.

Notes and References

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