2023 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament should not be confused with 2023 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament.
| Year: | 2023 |
| Conference: | Southland Conference |
| Division: | I |
| Gender: | Men's |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Arena: | The Legacy Center |
| City: | Lake Charles, Louisiana |
| Champions: | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi |
| Titlecount: | 3rd |
| Coach: | Steve Lutz |
| Coachcount: | 2nd |
| Mvp: | Jalen Jackson |
| Mvpteam: | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi |
| Television: | ESPN+, ESPNU, ESPN2 |
The 2023 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the 2022–23 season of the Southland Conference. The tournament was held March 5–8, 2023, at The Legacy Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana.[1] [2] [3] [4] Top seeded Texas A&M–Corpus Christi defeated second seeded Northwestern State 75–71 in the championship game winning its second consecutive tournament championship and receiving the conference's automatic invitation to the 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.[5]
McNeese clinched the final berth in the tournament on the final day of the regular season by overcoming a 22-point second-half deficit to earn 79–78 dramatic comeback victory over New Orleans.[6] The McNeese win eliminated Incarnate Word, which controlled its own destiny but lost, 81–64, to Northwestern State.[7]
Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tie–breaker system to seed teams with identical conference records. The top two seeds received double byes into the semifinals in the merit-based format. The No. 3 and No. 4 seeds received single byes to the quarterfinals. Tiebreakers used are, in general, 1) Head-to-head results, 2) comparison of records against individual teams in the conference starting with the top-ranked team(s) and working down, 3) road record in conference games, 4) comparison of road records against individual teams in the conference starting with the top-ranked team(s) and working down and 5) NCAA NET rankings available on day following the conclusion of regular-season play.[8]
If a team that is not eligible for the NCAA Tournament wins the Southland Conference Tournament, the conference's automatic bid goes to the regular-season champion.[9]
| Seed | School | Conference | Tiebreaker 1 | Tiebreaker 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 14–4 | |||
| 2 | Northwestern State | 13–5 | |||
| 3 | Southeastern Louisiana | 12–6 | |||
| 4 | Nicholls | 11–7 | |||
| 5 | Texas A&M–Commerce | 9–9 | |||
| 6 | Houston Christian | 7–11 | 1–1 vs. UNO | 1–1 vs. AMCC | |
| 7 | New Orleans | 7–11 | 1–1 vs. HCU | 0–2 vs. AMCC | |
| 8 | McNeese | 6–12 | 1–1 vs. UIW | 1–1 vs. NWST | |
| DNQ | Incarnate Word | 6–12 | 1–1 vs. MCN | 0–2 vs. NWST | |
| DNQ | Lamar | 5–13 |
| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup# | Score | Television | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Sunday March 5, 2023 | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 5:00 pm | No. 5 Texas A&M–Commerce vs. No. 8 McNeese | 78–79 | ESPN+ | |
| 2 | 7:30 pm | No. 6 Houston Christian vs. No. 7 New Orleans | 69–90 | |||
| Second round – Monday, March 6, 2023 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 5:00 pm | No. 4 Nicholls vs. No. 8 McNeese | 71–77 | ESPN+ | |
| 4 | 7:30 pm | No. 3 Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 7 New Orleans | 78-82 | |||
| Semifinals – Tuesday, March 7, 2023 | ||||||
| 3 | 5 | 5:30 pm | No. 1 Texas A&M-CC vs. No. 8 McNeese | 80–63 | ESPNU | |
| 6 | 8:00 pm | No. 2 Northwestern State vs. No. 7 New Orleans | 74–70 | ESPN+ | ||
| Championship – Wednesday, March 8, 2023 | ||||||
| 4 | 7 | 4:00 pm | No. 1 Texas A&M-CC vs. No. 2 Northwestern State | 75–71 | ESPN2 | |
| ||||||
* denotes number of overtime periods
| 2023 Southland Conference Men's Basketball All-Tournament Team | |
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