1986 MAAC men's basketball tournament

1986 MAAC men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1985–86
Teams	8
Site	Meadowlands Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey
Champions	Fairfield (1st title)
Winning coach	Mitch Buonaguro (1st title)
MVP	Jim McCaffrey (Holy Cross)
MAAC men's basketball tournaments

1985–86 MAAC men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Fairfield †	13	–	1		.929			24	–	7		.774
Iona	9	–	5		.643			14	–	15		.483
La Salle	8	–	6		.571			14	–	14		.500
Saint Peter's	7	–	7		.500			16	–	12		.571
Fordham	7	–	7		.500			13	–	17		.433
Holy Cross	6	–	8		.429			12	–	18		.400
Army	5	–	9		.357			9	–	18		.333
Manhattan	1	–	13		.071			2	–	26		.071
† 1986 MAAC tournament winner

The 1986 MAAC men's basketball tournament was held February 27–March 1 at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Fairfield defeated Holy Cross in the championship game, 67–64, to win their first MAAC men's basketball tournament.

The Stags received a bid to the 1986 NCAA tournament – the first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history – where they were beaten by Illinois in the opening round, 75–51.

Format

All eight of the conference's members participated in the tournament field. They were seeded based on regular season conference records, with all teams starting play in the quarterfinal round.

All games were played at a neutral site at the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals Friday, February 27					Semifinals Saturday, February 28					Championship Sunday, March 1
	1	Fairfield	80
	8	Manhattan	56
						1	Fairfield	49
						5	Saint Peter's	47
	4	Fordham	52
	5	Saint Peter's	61
											1	Fairfield	67
											6	Holy Cross	44
	3	La Salle	70
	6	Holy Cross	72
						6	Holy Cross	81
						2	Iona	77
	2	Iona	64
	7	Army	60