2024 WAC men's basketball tournament explained

2024 WAC men's basketball tournament should not be confused with 2024 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament.

Year:2024
Conference:WAC
Division:I
Gender:Men's
Teams:8
Arena:Orleans Arena
City:Paradise, Nevada
Titlecount:3rd
Coach:Bryce Drew
Coachcount:3rd
Mvp:Tyon Grant-Foster
Mvpteam:Grand Canyon
Television:ESPN+, ESPN2

The 2024 WAC men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) for the 2023–24 season. The tournament was played from March 13–16, 2024 at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada near Las Vegas.[1] The winner, Grand Canyon, received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.[2]

Seeds

Eight of the eleven members are invited to the tournament.[3] The field for the WAC tournament has varied from six to last year's twelve qualifiers.[4] While Tarleton and Utah Tech are ineligible for the NCAA tournament, they are eligible for the WAC tournament.[5] If a team that is not eligible for the NCAA Tournament wins the WAC Tournament, the conference's automatic bid will go to the highest seeded tournament-eligible team.[6] As was the case for the 2023 tournament, teams will be seeded based on the WAC Resume Seeding System.[7] While seeding is determined by the WAC Resume Seeding System, the eight teams invited to the tournament will be determined by composite WAC standings.[8]

SeedSchoolConference recordWAC Resume seeding points (final)
117–38.420
2Tarleton16–44.262
3UT Arlington13–70.709
4Seattle11–9–0.314
5Utah Valley11–9–1.044
6Stephen F. Austin10–10–1.543
7Abilene Christian10–10–2.692
8California Baptist8–12–4.440
DNQUtah Tech7–13–6.386
DNQSouthern Utah5–15–7.801
DNQUT Rio Grande Valley2–18–11.762

WAC Resume seedings throughout season

SeedDec. 4Dec. 12Dec. 19Dec. 27Jan. 3Jan. 9Jan. 16Jan. 23Jan. 31Feb. 6Feb. 14Feb. 20Feb. 26Mar. 5Mar. 10 (final)
1GCUGCUGCUGCUGCUGCUGCUGCUGCUGCUGCUGCUGCUGCUGCU
2TARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTARTAR
3CBUUVUUTASUSUSUSFASFASUSUSUSUSUSUUTA
4SFACBUCBUUTASFAUVUSUSUSFASFASFAUTAUTAUTASU
5UTSUUVUUVUUTASFAUTAUTACBUUTAUTASFAUVUSFAUVU
6UVUUTASFACBUUVUUTAUVUUVUUTACBUCBUUVUSFAUVUSFA
7SUSFASUSFACBUUTUTCBUUVUUVUUVUCBUCBUACUACU
8UTAUTUTUTUTCBUCBUUTSUUSUUUTACUACUCBUCBU
9ACUACUACUACUACUACUACUACUACU(T) ACUSUUUTUTUTUT
10SUUSUUSUUSUUSUUSUUSUUSUUUT(T) UTACUSUUSUUSUUSUU
11UTRGVUTRGVUTRGVUTRGVUTRGVUTRGVUTRGVUTRGVUTRGVUTRGVUTRGVUTRGVUTRGVUTRGVUTRGV

Schedule

SessionGameTime*Matchup#ScoreTelevision
First round – Wednesday, March 13, 2024 – Orleans Arena
116:00pmNo. 5 Utah Valley vs. No. 8 California Baptist63–74ESPN+
28:30pmNo. 6 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 7 Abilene Christian60–57
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 14, 2024 – Orleans Arena
236:00pmNo. 8 California Baptist vs. No. 4 Seattle57–81ESPN+
48:30pmNo. 6 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 3 UT Arlington78–109
Semifinals – Friday, March 15, 2024 – Orleans Arena
356:00pmNo. 4 Seattle vs. No. 1 Grand Canyon72–80ESPN+
68:30pmNo. 3 UT Arlington vs. No. 2 Tarleton87–84ESPNU
Championship – Saturday, March 16, 2024 – Orleans Arena
478:30pmNo. 1 Grand Canyon vs. No. 3 UT Arlington89–74ESPN2
  • Game times in PT. #-Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket

* denotes overtime period

Awards

!Award!Player!Team
Most Outstanding PlayerTyon Grant-FosterGrand Canyon
All-Tournament TeamTyon Grant-FosterGrand Canyon
Ray HarrisonGrand Canyon
Lök WurGrand Canyon
Phillip RussellUT Arlington
Shemar WilsonUT Arlington

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: WAC Bracket 2023 & WAC Tournament Predictions . 2022-12-28 . www.teamrankings.com.
  2. Web site: Evans . Jace . 2023 men's NCAA Tournament automatic bids: Who has secured spots in March Madness? . 2023-11-17 . USA TODAY . en-US.
  3. Web site: 2023-11-04 . Championship Format And Dates For 2024 Hercules Tires WAC Basketball Tournament Set . 2023-11-17 . wacsports.com . en.
  4. Web site: 2023-11-09 . WAC Tournament format, dates set . 2023-11-17 . Grand Canyon University Athletics . en.
  5. Web site: WAC approves Conference Championship eligibility for Tarleton in recent board meeting . 2022-12-28 . Tarleton State University Athletics . en.
  6. Web site: 2023 WAC Tournament . March 20, 2023 . Hoops HD.
  7. Web site: 2023-11-04 . Western Athletic Conference, Hercules Tires Renew Title Sponsorship Of The WAC Basketball Tournament . 2023-11-17 . wacsports.com . en.
  8. Web site: 2023 24 WAC MBB Release 2 14 (PDF) - Western Athletic Conference . 2024-02-17 . wacsports.com . en.