FRISCO, Texas - Entering Saturday, only the top two seeds for the 2010 State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournament had been set. The last day of the regular season determined the final six seeds in the tournament though seven teams had already clinched tournament berths.

Sam Houston State had already clinched the top seed in next week's tournament at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas, after winning its third regular-season championship. The Bearkats finished 22-7 overall and were 14-2 in conference play. Despite losing their final game of the season at Texas State, the Bearkats won the most league games since Texas A&M-Corpus Christi finished 14-2 in 2007. Sam Houston will open its bid for a second Southland tournament title Wednesday against No. 8 seed Nicholls at 6 p.m., Central. The Colonels won their final two games, including a a 73-61 victory over Lamar Saturday, to get into the tournament.

No. 4 seed Southeastern Louisiana vs. No. 5 seed Texas State meet in the final game Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. Southeastern finished 18-11 overall and 10-6 in conference play after winning its final two games, including an 86-77 home triumph against Northwestern State Saturday. Texas State handed Sam Houston its second conference loss after claiming a 101-97 overtime victory Saturday. The Bobcats finished the regular season 15-15 overall and 9-7 in conference play after winning their final two games.

Stephen F. Austin, the 2009 regular-season and tournament champion, will try to defend last year's tournament championship as the No. 2 seed. The Lumberjacks finished 21-8 overall and 11-5 in the conference, three games behind Sam Houston State.The East Division champions play the first game in the men's tournament, meeting UT Arlington Wednesday at noon. The Mavericks dropped their final two conference games to finish 16-13 overall and 8-8 in conference play.

No. 3 seed Texas AM-Corpus Christi and No. 6 seed UTSA play the second game Wednesday. The Islanders locked up the third seed after winning three of their final four games, including an 82-79 home win over UT Arlington, to finish 16-14 overall and 10-6 in Southland play. UTSA upended East Division winner Stephen F. Austin, 65-63, Saturday and won six of its last seven games to take a 19-10 overall record and 9-7 league mark into the tournament.

The men's semifinal games are set for 6:05 p.m. and 8:33 p.m., on Thursday. Those games will be televised by the Southland Conference Television Network and will also be available on ESPN Full Court and ESPN360.com. The championship game will be played Saturday at 3:05 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN2 and on ESPN360.com. The first six games will also be streamed live on SLC NOW, the free video streaming channel on Southland.org.

The tournament begins Tuesday with four women's quarterfinal games.

Tickets to the tournament are available through Ticketmaster and at the Merrell Center box office beginning Monday at 10 a.m. This is the third consecutive year for the event to be played at the Leonard E. Merrell Center and it is the fourth consecutive year for the event to be held a neutral site.

2010 State Farm Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
Merrell Center, Katy, Texas; March 9-13, 2010
 
Wednesday, March 10
Game 1: No. 7 UT Arlington vs. No. 2 Stephen F. Austin, Noon
Game 2: No. 6 UTSA vs. No. 3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 8 Nicholls vs. No. 1 Sam Houston State,  6 p.m.
Game 4: No. 5 Texas State vs. No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana, 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 11
Men's Game Five: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 6:05 p.m.
Men's Game Six: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 8:33 p.m. (Approximately)

Saturday, March 13
Championship Game: 3:05 p.m.