1997 Conference USA men's basketball tournament

The 1997 Conference USA men's basketball tournament was held March 5–8 at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

1997 Conference USA men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1996–97
Teams	12
Site	Kiel Center St. Louis, MO
Champions	Marquette (1st title)
Winning coach	Mike Deane (1st title)
MVP	Aaron Hutchins (Marquette)
Conference USA men's basketball tournaments

1996–97 Conference USA men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Blue
No. 10 Cincinnati	12	–	2		.857			26	–	8		.765
Marquette †	9	–	5		.643			22	–	9		.710
Saint Louis	4	–	10		.286			11	–	18		.379
DePaul	1	–	13		.071			3	–	23		.115
Red
Tulane	11	–	3		.786			20	–	11		.645
UAB	7	–	7		.500			18	–	14		.563
Southern Miss	6	–	8		.429			12	–	15		.444
South Florida	2	–	12		.143			8	–	19		.296
White
UNC Charlotte	10	–	4		.714			22	–	9		.710
Memphis	10	–	4		.714			16	–	15		.516
No. 25 Louisville	9	–	5		.643			26	–	9		.743
Houston	3	–	11		.214			11	–	16		.407
† 1997 Conference USA Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Marquette defeated UNC Charlotte in the championship game, 60–52, to clinch their first Conference USA men's tournament championship.

The Golden Eagles, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA tournament. They were joined in the tournament by fellow C-USA members UNC Charlotte, Cincinnati, and Louisville, who all earned at-large bids.

Format

With Houston officially joining Conference USA prior to 1996–97 season, total membership increased to twelve. The Cougars were entered directly into the conference's three four-team division structure, being placed into the White Division.

With the addition of Houston, the tournament field expanded from eleven to twelve. Nonetheless, the overall structure remained largely the same: the top four teams were given byes into the quarterfinal round, and the remaining eight teams were entered into the preliminary round. All seeds were determined by regular season conference records, regardless of division.

Bracket

	First round Wednesday, March 5					Quarterfinals Thursday, March 6					Semifinals Friday, March 7					Championship Saturday, March 8
						1	#10 Cincinnati	71
						9	Saint Louis	43
	9	Saint Louis	69
	8	Southern Miss	61
											1	#10 Cincinnati	79
											5	Marquette	91
	5	Marquette	79
	12	DePaul	53
						5	Marquette	63
						4	Memphis	45
																5	Marquette	60
																3	UNC Charlotte	52
						3	UNC Charlotte	64
						6	#20 Louisville	60
	11	South Florida	58
	6	#20 Louisville	69
											3	UNC Charlotte	67
											7	UAB	65
	7	UAB	55
	10	Houston	54
						7	UAB	74
						2	Tulane	70