The 2008 Southwestern Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament will be held March 12-15, and the brackets have been set.Â
In the women’s bracket, the Lady Panthers of Prairie View A&M University finished in first place and the outright regular season champion. The Lady Panthers have an overall record of 20-10, 15-3 in the conference. Jackson State finished in second place with a record of 15-13, 13-5 in the SWAC. Following the Lady Tigers are Alabama A&M (14-13, 12-6) in third place, Southern University (12-15, 10-8) in fourth and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11-18, 9-9) in fifth place. Â
Mississippi Valley State, Alcorn State and Alabama State were all tied at 8-10 in the conference. Using the conference’s tiebreaker system, The Devilettes of Mississippi Valley finished sixth, Alcorn State finished seventh and Alabama State finished in eighth place.
For the men, Alabama State finished the regular season as the number one seed and regular season champion. The Hornets finished with an overall record of 19-9, 15-3 in the SWAC. Mississippi Valley State had a strong push at the end of the season and jumped to second place with a 14-15 record, 12-6 in the conference. Alabama A&M finished in third place (14-14, 11-7) and Jackson State fell to fourth place (12-19, 10-8).Â
The Jaguars of Southern University finished in fifth place at 11-18, 9-9 in the conference. Arkansas-Pine Bluff came in sixth place (12-17, 8-10) and the Grambling State Tigers finished seventh (7-18, 7-11).
Alcorn State, Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M were tied at 6-12 in the conference. After the tiebreaker, The Tigers of Texas Southern claimed the eighth and final position to participate in the tournament.
In the opening-round for women: Prairie View A&M faces Alabama State and Jackson State plays Alcorn State.  On Thursday, The Bulldogs of Alabama A&M play Mississippi Valley State and Southern will play against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Alabama State will take on Texas Southern in the men’s opening round. The Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley will face Grambling State. On Thursday, Alabama A&M will face Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Jackson State will play Southern University.
Can PV Tigers go to the NCAA tournament when they are on probation.