1997 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1997 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 6–8 at Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in Shreveport, Louisiana.

1997 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1996–97
Teams	6
Site	Hirsch Memorial Coliseum Shreveport, Louisiana
Champions	Southwest Texas State Bobcats (2nd title)
Winning coach	Mike Miller (1st title)
MVP	Dameon Sansom (Southwest Texas State)
Southland Conference men's basketball tournaments

1996–97 Southland Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
McNeese State	10	–	6		.625			18	–	12		.600
Southwest Texas State †	10	–	6		.625			16	–	13		.552
Northeast Louisiana	10	–	6		.625			14	–	14		.500
Northwestern State	8	–	8		.500			13	–	15		.464
Stephen F. Austin	8	–	8		.500			12	–	15		.444
Texas-Arlington	8	–	8		.500			12	–	15		.444
Nicholls State	7	–	9		.438			10	–	16		.385
Sam Houston State	7	–	9		.438			8	–	18		.308
UTSA	4	–	12		.250			9	–	17		.346
† 1997 Southland tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Southwest Texas State defeated Louisiana-Monroe in the championship game, 74–64, to win their second Southland men's basketball tournament.

The Bobcats received a bid to the 1997 NCAA Tournament as the No. 16 seed in the Midwest region.

Format

Six of the ten conference members participated in the tournament field. They were seeded based on regular season conference records, with the top two seeds receiving a bye to the semifinal round. Tournament play began with the quarterfinal round.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals March 6					Semifinals March 7					Championship March 8
						1	Northeast Louisiana	72
						4	Northwestern State	54
	4	Northwestern State	85
	5	Stephen F. Austin	64
											1	Louisiana–Monroe	64
											2	Southwest Texas State	74
	3	McNeese State	81
	6	Texas–Arlington	50
						3	McNeese State	59
						2	Southwest Texas State	76