1998 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament

The 1998 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament was held February 27–March 3 at the Cajundome at the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette, Louisiana.

1998 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1997–98
Teams	10
Site	Cajundome Lafayette, LA
Champions	South Alabama (4th title)
Winning coach	Bob Weltlich (1st title)
MVP	Toby Madison (South Alabama)
Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournaments

1997–98 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
South Alabama †	14	–	4		.778			21	–	7		.750
Arkansas State	14	–	4		.778			20	–	9		.690
Southwestern Louisiana	12	–	6		.667			18	–	13		.581
Arkansas–Little Rock	10	–	8		.556			15	–	13		.536
Louisiana Tech	9	–	9		.500			12	–	15		.444
New Orleans	9	–	9		.500			15	–	12		.556
Lamar	7	–	11		.389			15	–	14		.517
Jacksonville	6	–	12		.333			8	–	19		.296
Western Kentucky	6	–	12		.333			10	–	19		.345
Texas–Pan American	3	–	15		.167			3	–	24		.111
† 1998 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Top-seeded South Alabama defeated hosts Southwestern Louisiana in the championship game, 62–59, to win their fourth overall, and second consecutive, Sun Belt men's basketball tournament.

The Jaguars, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA tournament. No other Sun Belt members earned bids to the tournament.

Format

No teams left or joined the Sun Belt before the season, leaving conference membership fixed at ten teams.

All teams participated in the tournament, maintaining its ten-team format. With all teams seeded based on regular-season conference records, the top six teams were all placed directly into the quarterfinal round while the four lowest-seeded teams were placed into the preliminary first round.

Bracket

	First round Friday, February 27					Quarterfinals Saturday, February 28					Semifinals Sunday, March 1					Championship Tuesday, March 3
						1	South Alabama	61
						9	Western Kentucky	47
	9	Western Kentucky	75
	8	Jacksonville	70
											1	South Alabama	79
											4	Arkansas–Little Rock	48
						5	Louisiana Tech	61
						4	Arkansas–Little Rock	74
																1	South Alabama	62
																3	Southwestern Louisiana	59
						3	Southwestern Louisiana	76
						6	New Orleans	69
											3	Southwestern Louisiana	81
											7	Lamar	65
	7	Lamar	103
	10	Texas–Pan American	89
						7	Lamar	70
						2	Arkansas State	54

See also

• Sun Belt Conference women's basketball tournament