1986 MEAC men's basketball tournament

The 1986 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament took place March 6–8, 1986, at Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. North Carolina A&T defeated Howard, 53–52 in the championship game, to win its fifth consecutive MEAC Tournament title.

1986 MEAC men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1985–86
Teams	6
Site	Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, North Carolina
Champions	North Carolina A&T (11th title)
Winning coach	Don Corbett (5th title)
MVP	Thomas Griffis (North Carolina A&T)
MEAC men's basketball tournaments

1985–86 MEAC men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
North Carolina A&T †	12	–	2		.857			22	–	8		.733
Howard	11	–	3		.786			18	–	9		.667
Delaware State	7	–	7		.500			11	–	17		.393
Coppin State	7	–	7		.500			10	–	17		.370
Morgan State	7	–	7		.500			7	–	20		.259
South Carolina State	5	–	9		.357			10	–	18		.357
Bethune–Cookman	4	–	10		.286			7	–	22		.241
Maryland Eastern Shore	3	–	11		.214			5	–	23		.179
† 1986 MEAC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The Aggies earned an automatic bid to the 1987 NCAA tournament as a No. 16 seed in the Midwest region.

Format

Six of eight conference members participated, with play beginning in the quarterfinal round. Teams were seeded based on their regular season conference record.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals March 6					Semifinals March 7					Final March 8
						1	North Carolina A&T	75
						5	Bethune-Cookman	66
	4	South Carolina State	85
	5	Bethune–Cookman	92
											1	North Carolina A&T	53
											2	Howard	52
	3	Delaware State	64
	6	Maryland Eastern Shore	75
						6	Maryland-Eastern Shore	55
						2	Howard	83

* denotes overtime period