LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- The SCAC office announced the bracket for the 2021 men's basketball tournament, which will be begin Friday, March 5. Men's Tournament Bracket | Official Tournament Website | Week 6 Men's Basketball Recap

For the first time in league history, the postseason event will be played on campus sites around the league with the top four seeds hosting quarterfinal round action beginning this weekend. Normally conducted over one weekend among the top six teams at a single predetermined site, this year the top eight men's and women's teams will qualify for the postseason conference tournament which will stretch over three weekends.

First round play will be conducted the weekend of March 5-7, semifinals are scheduled for March 12-14 and the men's and women's championship will occur the weekend of March 19-21. The top four seeds will host first round games on both the men's and women's side, and the top remaining seeds will host semifinal and championship rounds.

Changes were made to the event this year primarily to maintain the league's current testing cadence related to COVID-19 protocols. 

*The seeds for this year's men's tournament are as follows:
1) Trinity (8-1 SCAC; 8-1 overall)
2) St. Thomas (7-3 SCAC; 8-4 overall)
3) Centenary (7-3 SCAC; 7-3 overall)
4) Southwestern (4-2 SCAC; 4-2 overall)
5) Austin College (4-5 SCAC; 4-5 overall)
6) Texas Lutheran (4-6 SCAC; 4-6 overall)
7) Dallas (4-6 SCAC; 4-6 overall)
8) Schreiner (1-5 SCAC; 2-6 overall)

The Trinity University men (8-1) return to top seed status for the first time since 2014, which played out to be the program's third straight - and last - SCAC tournament title.  Historically, Trinity has won three of the four previous men's basketball championships it entered as the No. 1 seed. 

University of St. Thomas (7-3) and Centenary split their two games this year, therefore the Celts' victory against the highest-seeded team (Trinity) bumped them to the No. 2 seed in what will be the program's inaugural SCAC men's basketball tournament.

Centenary College (7-3), the defending SCAC champions, will be the No. 3 seed. Since 2014, the Gents have appeared in four SCAC championship games, second only to Texas Lutheran in title game appearances over that span.

Southwestern University (4-2) will serve as the fourth quarterfinal host site as the Pirates, who were off this past weekend, earned the No. 4 seed. Austin College (4-5), which is making its first back-to-back appearance in the SCAC tournament since 2013-2014, we will be the fifth seed.

Texas Lutheran (4-6) and Dallas tied for the sixth position in the tournament bracket but the Bulldogs secured the higher seed by virtue of its win over the higher-seeded team (St. Thomas). Dallas (4-6), which swept Colorado College on Saturday and Sunday, had to settle for the No. 7 seed. Schreiner University (1-5) will be the No. 8 seed.

For more information on the 2021 SCAC Men's Basketball Tournament, click here for the official website.