1981 MEAC men's basketball tournament

The 1981 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament took place March 5–7 at Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Howard defeated North Carolina A&T, 66–63 in the championship game, to win the MEAC Tournament title.

1981 MEAC men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1980–81
Teams	6
Site	Campus sites
Finals site	Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Winning coach	A. B. Williamson (2nd title)
MVP	Unknown
MEAC men's basketball tournaments

1980–81 MEAC men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
North Carolina A&T	7	–	3		.700			21	–	8		.724
Florida A&M	6	–	4		.600			17	–	11		.607
Howard †	6	–	4		.600			17	–	12		.586
Bethune–Cookman	4	–	6		.400			13	–	15		.464
South Carolina State	4	–	6		.400			11	–	15		.423
Delaware State	3	–	7		.300			8	–	18		.308
† 1981 MEAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The Bison earned an automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA tournament as a No. 12 seed in the West region.

Format

All six conference members participated, with play beginning in the quarterfinal round. Teams were seeded based on their regular season conference record. This was the final time a third-place consolation game was played.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals March 5					Semifinals March 6					Final March 7
						1	North Carolina A&T	54
						4	Bethune-Cookman	51
	4	Bethune-Cookman	72
	5	South Carolina State	60
											1	North Carolina A&T	63
											3	Howard	66
	3	Howard	67
	6	Delaware State	53
						3	Howard	75			Third place
						2	Florida A&M	73
											4	Bethune-Cookman	72
											2	Florida A&M	75

* denotes overtime period