The 1981 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 5–7 at HemisFair Arena in San Antonio, Texas.
The first round took place March 2 at the higher seeded campus sites.
[1][2] Number 2 seed Houston defeated 6 seed Texas 84-59 to win their 2nd championship and receive the conference's automatic bid to the 1981 NCAA tournament.
The tournament consisted of 9 teams in a single-elimination tournament.
The 3 seed received a bye to the Quarterfinals and the 1 and 2 seed received a bye to the Semifinals.