2023 WAC men's basketball tournament explained

2023 WAC men's basketball tournament should not be confused with 2023 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament.

Year:2023
Conference:WAC
Division:I
Gender:Men's
Teams:12
Arena:Michelob Ultra Arena (first round)
Orleans Arena (all other games)
Champions:Grand Canyon
Titlecount:2nd
Coach:Bryce Drew
Coachcount:2nd
Television:ESPN+, ESPN2
Mvp:Ray Harrison, Grand Canyon

The 2023 WAC men's basketball tournament is the postseason men's basketball tournament of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) for the 2022–23 season. The conference tournament is scheduled to be played from March 7–11, 2023, at Michelob ULTRA Arena and the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada near Las Vegas.[1] The first round will be played on March 7 at Michelob ULTRA Arena with the remaining rounds March 9–11 at the Orleans Arena.[2] The winner of the conference tournament, Grand Canyon, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Seeds

Twelve of the thirteen members were invited to the tournament.[3] While Tarleton and Utah Tech were ineligible for the NCAA tournament, they were eligible for the WAC tournament.[4] New Mexico State canceled the remainder of its season on February 11, 2023 due to an ongoing investigation of hazing incidents within the program. Teams were seeded using the WAC Resume Seeding rankings.[5] The WAC Resume Seeding rankings are an advanced analytic developed by Ken Pomeroy that incorporates the performance of teams in both conference and non-conference games.[6] Rankings were initially released on December 5.[7] While seedings were determined using the WAC Resume Seeding System, the top 12 teams that qualified for the tournament were determined based on conference league records. Since New Mexico State suspended its season, the remaining 12 teams participated in the tournament (as reflected in the seedings released starting with the February 13 rankings shown in the table below). Regardless of which team received the top seed from the WAC Resume Seeding rankings, the regular season conference champion was determined based on conference win percentage.[8]

If a team that was not eligible for the NCAA Tournament won the WAC Tournament, the conference's automatic bid would have gone to the highest seeded tournament-eligible team.[9]

SeedSchoolConferenceWAC Points[10] KenPom Ranking (Mar. 4)
1Sam Houston14–46.97766
2Utah Valley15–36.96479
3Southern Utah13–63.147102
4Seattle U11–73.102144
5Grand Canyon11–72.771120
6Stephen F. Austin11–71.131129
7Tarleton10–8–0.069161
8California Baptist8–10–1.980158
9Abilene Christian7–11–2.538187
10UTRGV6–12–3.163250
11Utah Tech5–13–3.519157
12UT Arlington6–12–5.067245
SeedDec. 5Dec. 13Dec. 20Dec. 27Jan. 3Jan. 10Jan. 17Jan. 24Jan. 30Feb. 7Feb. 13Feb. 21Feb. 28Mar. 4
1SHSUSHSUSHSUSHSUSHSUUVUUVUUVUSHSUUVUUVUUVUUVUSHSU
2SUSUSUUVUUVUSHSUSUSUUVUSHSUSHSUSHSUSHSUUVU
3GCUGCUGCUSU(T) SUSUSHSUSHSUSUSUUSUSUUSUUSUU
4TARUVUUVUGCU(T) GCUGCUSUUGCUSUUSUSUUSUSUSU
5UTNMSUNMSUNMSUSUUSUUGCUSUUGCUGCUGCUGCUSFAGCU
6NMSU(T) CBUUTUTUTSFASFASFASFASFASFASFAGCUSFA
7UTRGV(T) UTCBUSUUSFAUTTARCBUTARTARTARTARTARTAR
8UVUSUUSUUTARNMSUTARCBUTARCBUACUACUCBUCBUCBU
9CBUTARUTRGVUTRGVTARCBUUTUTUTCBUCBUACUACUACU
10SUUUTRGVTARCBUUTRGVNMSUUTRGVUTRGVUTRGVUTUTUTRGVUTRGVUTRGV
11SFASFASFASFAACUACUACUACUACUUTRGVUTRGVUTUTUT
12UTAACUACUACUCBUUTRGVNMSUNMSUNMSUNMSUUTAUTAUTAUTA
13ACUUTAUTAUTAUTAUTAUTAUTAUTAUTA------------

Schedule

SessionGameTime*Matchup#ScoreTelevisionAttendance
First round – Tuesday, March 7, 2023 – Michelob ULTRA Arena
1112:00pmNo. 8 California Baptist vs. No. 9 Abilene Christian69−62ESPN+
22:00pmNo. 5 Grand Canyon vs. No. 12 UT Arlington82−77
36:00pmNo. 7 Tarleton vs. No. 10 UT Rio Grande Valley74−70
48:00pmNo. 6 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 11 Utah Tech76−80OT
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 9, 2023 – Orleans Arena
2512:00pmNo. 1 Sam Houston vs. No. 8 California Baptist64–51ESPN+
62:00pmNo. 4 Seattle vs. No. 5 Grand Canyon79–84
76:00pmNo. 2 Utah Valley vs. No. 7 Tarleton72–58
88:00pmNo. 3 Southern Utah vs. No. 11 Utah Tech76–75
Semifinals – Friday, March 10, 2023 – Orleans Arena
396:00pmNo. 1 Sam Houston vs. No. 5 Grand Canyon75–78ESPN+
108:00pmNo. 2 Utah Valley vs. No. 3 Southern Utah88–89
Championship – Saturday, March 11, 2023 – Orleans Arena
4118:30 p.m.No. 5 Grand Canyon vs. No. 3 Southern Utah84–66ESPN2
  • Game times in PT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket

* denotes overtime period

Awards

!Award!Player!Team
Most Outstanding PlayerRay HarrisonGrand Canyon
All-Tournament TeamRay HarrisonGrand Canyon
Gabe McGlothanGrand Canyon
Harrison ButlerSouthern Utah
Tevian JonesSouthern Utah
Trey WoodburyUtah Valley

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: WAC Bracket 2023 & WAC Tournament Predictions . 2022-12-28 . www.teamrankings.com.
  2. Web site: Western Athletic Conference . 2022-12-28 . The Orleans Hotel & Casino . en.
  3. 2022-07-28 . 2022-23 WAC Championships Schedules Released . en.
  4. Web site: WAC approves Conference Championship eligibility for Tarleton in recent board meeting . 2022-12-28 . Tarleton State University Athletics . en.
  5. Web site: WAC altering basketball tournament formats by introducing bold new seeding concept based on advanced analytics . 2022-12-28 . CBSSports.com . en.
  6. Web site: Koons . Zach . July 11, 2022 . WAC to Seed Conference Tournament Using KenPom Ratings, per Report . www.si.com.
  7. 2022-12-06 . This Week In WAC Men's Basketball - Dec. 6 . en.
  8. 2023-02-13 . Remaining New Mexico State 2022-23 WAC Men’s Basketball Games Deemed Conference Forfeits . en.
  9. Web site: 2023 WAC Tournament. Hoops HD. March 20, 2023.
  10. Web site: 2022-23 WAC MBB Resume Seeding System (FINAL). Western Athletic Conference. March 6, 2023.

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