| Year: | 1996 |
| Conference: | Big Sky Conference |
| Division: | I |
| Gender: | Men's |
| Teams: | 6 |
| Arena: | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse |
| City: | Bozeman, MT |
| Champions: | Montana State |
| Titlecount: | 2nd |
| Coach: | Mick Durham |
| Coachcount: | 1st |
| Mvp: | Danny Sprinkle |
| Mvpteam: | Montana State |
The 1996 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament was held March 7–9 at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.[1]
Top-seeded host Montana State defeated defending champion in the championship game, for their second Big Sky men's basketball tournament title.
Conference membership remained with the same eight teams, and no changes were made to the existing tournament format. The top six teams from the regular season participated, and the top two earned byes into the semifinals. The remaining four played in the quarterfinals, and the top seed met the lowest remaining seed in
Montana State received the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament; no other Big Sky members were invited, or to the NIT. Seeded thirteenth in the West regional, the Bobcats fell to Syracuse in the first round in Albuquerque.