1981 SEC men's basketball tournament

The 1981 SEC men's basketball tournament took place from March 4–7, 1981 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex in Birmingham, Alabama. The Ole Miss Rebels, who represents the University of Mississippi won their first SEC tournament title in the championship game by defeating the Georgia Bulldogs by a score of 66–62. Ole Miss also received the SEC’s automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament.^[3][4] Television coverage was regionally syndicated by the now-defunct TVS Television Network.

1981 SEC men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1980–81
Teams	10
Site	Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Birmingham, Alabama[1]
Champions	Ole Miss Rebels (Mississippi)[1] (1st title)
Winning coach	Bob Weltlich (1st title)
MVP	Dominique Wilkins (Georgia)
Attendance	92,833
Top scorer	Dominique Wilkins (Georgia) (77 points)
Television	TVS Television Network
SEC men's basketball tournaments ← 1980 1982 →

1980–81 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 LSU	17	–	1		.944			31	–	5		.861
No. 8 Kentucky	15	–	3		.833			22	–	6		.786
No. 15 Tennessee	12	–	6		.667			21	–	8		.724
Alabama	10	–	8		.556			18	–	11		.621
Georgia	9	–	9		.500			19	–	12		.613
Ole Miss †	8	–	10		.444			16	–	14		.533
Vanderbilt	7	–	11		.389			15	–	14		.517
Florida	5	–	13		.278			12	–	16		.429
Auburn	4	–	14		.222			11	–	16		.407
Mississippi State	3	–	15		.167			8	–	19		.296
† 1981 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[2]

Bracket

^[3][4]

	First Round Wednesday, March 4					Second Round Thursday, March 5					Semi-Finals Friday, March 6					Finals Saturday, March 7
						1	#3 LSU	85
	8	Florida	50			8	Florida	73
	9	Auburn	48								1	#3 LSU	60
											5	Georgia	68
						4	Alabama	80
						5	Georgia	88
																5	Georgia	62
																6	Ole Miss	66
						2	#7 Kentucky	55
	7	Vanderbilt	71			7	Vanderbilt	60
	10	Mississippi State	58								7	Vanderbilt	55
											6	Mississippi	71
						3	#10 Tennessee	71
						6	Mississippi	81