1953 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1953 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament took place from March 5–7, 1953 at the Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons, led by head coach Murray Greason, won their first Southern Conference title and received the automatic berth to the 1953 NCAA tournament.

1953 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1952–53
Teams	8
Site	Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, NC
Champions	Wake Forest (1st title)
Winning coach	Murray Greason (1st title)
Southern Conference men's basketball tournaments

1952–53 Southern Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 18 North Carolina State	13	–	3		.813			26	–	6		.813
No. 15 Wake Forest †	12	–	3		.800			19	–	6		.760
Maryland	12	–	3		.800			15	–	8		.652
West Virginia	11	–	3		.786			19	–	17		.528
Furman	10	–	3		.769			21	–	6		.778
Duke	12	–	4		.750			17	–	8		.680
Richmond	13	–	5		.722			21	–	7		.750
North Carolina	15	–	6		.714			17	–	10		.630
George Washington	12	–	6		.667			15	–	7		.682
Clemson	6	–	8		.429			8	–	10		.444
South Carolina	7	–	12		.368			11	–	13		.458
William & Mary	6	–	13		.316			10	–	13		.435
Virginia Tech	4	–	13		.235			4	–	19		.174
Davidson	3	–	14		.176			4	–	16		.200
VMI	1	–	14		.067			5	–	19		.208
Washington and Lee	1	–	17		.056			2	–	20		.091
The Citadel	0	–	11		.000			4	–	14		.222
† Southern Conference Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Format

The top eight finishers of the conference's seventeen members were eligible for the tournament. Teams were seeded based on conference winning percentage. The tournament used a preset bracket consisting of three rounds.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals March 5					Semifinals March 6					Finals March 7
	1	#12 NC State	86
	8	North Carolina	54
						1	#12 NC State	85
						4	West Virginia	80
	4	West Virginia	91
	5	Furman	87
											1	#12 NC State	70
											2	Wake Forest	71
	2	Wake Forest	88
	7	Richmond	70
						2	Wake Forest	61
						3	Maryland	59
	3	Maryland	74
	6	Duke	65

* Overtime game

See also

• List of Southern Conference men's basketball champions