The 1981 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 3–5 at a combination of on-campus gymnasiums and the Beaumont Civic Center in Beaumont, Texas.
Lamar defeated Louisiana Tech in the championship game, 83–69, to win their first Southland men's basketball tournament.
Regular season runner-up Texas–Arlington received an invitation to the 1981 NIT Tournament.
They were seeded based on regular season conference records, with the top two teams earning byes into the semifinal round.
First Round games were played at the home court of the higher-seeded team.