1986 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1986 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 4–6, 1986 with quarterfinal matchups being held at the home arena of the higher seed and the semifinals and championship game played at Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, Louisiana.

1986 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1985–86
Teams	7
First round site	Campus Sites Campus Arenas
Finals site	Fant-Ewing Coliseum Monroe, Louisiana
Champions	Northeast Louisiana (1st title)
Winning coach	Mike Vining (1st title)
MVP	Arthur Hayes (Northeast Louisiana)
Southland Conference men's basketball tournaments

1985–86 Southland Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
NE Louisiana †	9	–	3		.750			20	–	10		.667
McNeese State	8	–	4		.667			21	–	11		.656
Arkansas State	7	–	5		.583			18	–	11		.621
Lamar	6	–	6		.500			18	–	12		.600
Louisiana Tech	6	–	6		.500			20	–	14		.588
North Texas State	4	–	8		.333			10	–	18		.357
UT Arlington	2	–	10		.167			12	–	18		.400
† 1986 Southland Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Northeast Louisiana defeated McNeese State in the championship game, 59–57, to win their first Southland men's basketball tournament.

The Indians received a bid to the 1986 NCAA Tournament as No. 13 seed in the West region. They were the only Southland member invited to the NCAA tournament. McNeese, Lamar, and Louisiana Tech received invitations to the 1986 NIT Tournament.

Format

All seven of the conference's members participated in the tournament field. They were seeded based on regular season conference records, with the top seed earning a bye into the semifinal round. The other six teams began play in the quarterfinal round.

First round games were played at the home court of the higher-seeded team. All remaining games were played at the Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, Louisiana.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals Tuesday, March 4					Semifinals Wednesday, March 5					Championship Thursday, March 6
						1	NE Louisiana	57
						5	Louisiana Tech	56
	4	Lamar	58
	5	Louisiana Tech	60
											1	NE Louisiana	59
											2	McNeese State	57
	3	Arkansas State	79
	6	North Texas State	71
						3	Arkansas State	57
						2	McNeese State	68
	2	McNeese State	83
	7	Texas-Arlington	71