1956 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1956 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament took place from March 1–3, 1956 at the Richmond Arena in Richmond, Virginia. The West Virginia Mountaineers, led by head coach Fred Schaus, won their second Southern Conference title and received the automatic berth to the 1956 NCAA tournament.

1956 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1955–56
Teams	8
Site	Richmond Arena Richmond, VA
Champions	West Virginia (2nd title)
Winning coach	Fred Schaus (2nd title)
Southern Conference men's basketball tournaments

1955–56 Southern Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
George Washington	10	–	2		.833			19	–	7		.731
No. 20 West Virginia †	10	–	2		.833			21	–	9		.700
Virginia Tech	10	–	7		.588			14	–	11		.560
Richmond	8	–	6		.571			16	–	13		.552
William & Mary	9	–	7		.563			12	–	14		.462
Furman	7	–	7		.500			12	–	16		.429
Davidson	5	–	7		.417			10	–	15		.400
Washington and Lee	5	–	8		.385			12	–	16		.429
VMI	3	–	11		.214			4	–	19		.174
The Citadel	0	–	10		.000			2	–	19		.095
† Southern Conference Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Format

The top eight finishers of the conference's ten 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 1					Semifinals March 2					Finals March 3
	1	George Washington	60
	8	Washington and Lee	63
						4	Richmond	65
						8	Washington and Lee	56
	4	Richmond	79
	5	William & Mary	62
											2	West Virginia	58
											4	Richmond	56
	2	West Virginia	59
	7	Davidson	53
						2	West Virginia	77
						6	Furman	74
	3	Virginia Tech	70
	6	Furman	84

* Overtime game

See also

• List of Southern Conference men's basketball champions