Busting Brackets
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Southland Basketball Tournament: Sam Houston State looking for first title this decade

By Daniel Benjamin

HONOLULU, HI - DECEMBER 23: The Stephen F. Austin bench celebrates after scoring during the second half of the Diamond Head Classic NCAA college basketball game at Stan Sheriff Center on December 23, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
HONOLULU, HI - DECEMBER 23: The Stephen F. Austin bench celebrates after scoring during the second half of the Diamond Head Classic NCAA college basketball game at Stan Sheriff Center on December 23, 2016 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 16: Head coach Jason Hooten of the Sam Houston State Bearkats gestures to his players during a game against the UNLV Rebels at the Thomas & Mack Center on November 16, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. UNLV won 59-57. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 16: Head coach Jason Hooten of the Sam Houston State Bearkats gestures to his players during a game against the UNLV Rebels at the Thomas & Mack Center on November 16, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. UNLV won 59-57. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

The 39th annual Southland Basketball Conference Championships will  take place at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas, from March 11-13. Eight of the 13 conference teams will participate in the tournament.

Stephen F. Austin has been a dominant force in the Southland Conference the last several seasons.  The Lumberjacks have captured a Southland Basketball Conference title in five of the last six years whether it is a regular season or tournament title (sometimes both). The Jacks have posted a winning record in 13 of the last 14 seasons and have claimed three division titles and four regular-season titles.

SFA has not been the only Southland program that has had a good run recently as Sam Houston State also has been pretty consistent. The Bearkats have totaled 13 winning seasons and one .500 campaign over the past 15 years. The Kats claimed their first Southland regular-season title since coach Jason Hooten’s first season with the program in 2010-11 with a 16-2 record, which is the program’s second most conference victories ever. As a result, SHSU is the No. 1 overall seed for the tournament.

Abilene Christian (14-2) had a historic season and is the No. 2 seed. The Wildcats set a program mark (D-I) for most wins in conference as well as overall. The 14 victories were six more than their previous high. Southeastern Louisiana (12-4), which was conference co-champions in 2017-18, is the third seed. Meanwhile, New Orleans (12-4) is the fourth seed.

Lamar (12-6) also tied with SE Louisiana and New Orleans for third in the conference, but the Cardinals dropped both of their contests to them, forcing Lamar to the fifth seed. Texas A&M Corpus Cristi (9-9) ended the season on a three-game winning streak, including a key victory over Houston Baptist (8-10) on March 9, to garner the sixth seed. The Islanders are followed by No. 7 Central Arkansas (8-10) and No. 8 Houston Baptist.

Stephen F. Austin (14-16, 7-11) lost its last four games to finish in ninth place in the conference and one game behind eighth place. Nicholls (14-17, 7-11), Northwestern State (11-20, 6-12), McNeese (9-22, 5-13), and Incarnate Word (6-25, 1-17) also did not reach the conference tournament.