WAC men's basketball tournament explained
The Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament is the conference championship tournament in men's basketball for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Even though the WAC was founded in 1962, the annual tournament has only been held since 1984.
The winner of the tournament is guaranteed a spot in the NCAA basketball tournament every year.
Format and host
The event has alternated between being hosted at campus sites and neutral sites throughout its history. From the inaugural event in 1984 until 1992 the regular season champion hosted the tournament, but in 1993 and 1994 the event was held at the Delta Center (now Vivint Arena) in Salt Lake City which, although located less than five miles from then-conference member Utah's campus, was considered a neutral site. From 1995 through 2009 the event returned to on-campus sites, although the location was awarded through a predetermined bidding process rather than being given to the regular-season champion. Since 2010 the tournament has again been held at a neutral site, namely Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
Starting with the 2023 tournament, the WAC adopted a new seeding system based on advanced team metrics, developed in large part by statistical guru Ken Pomeroy. Tournament entry will still be based on conference record.[1]
Tournament results
| Year | Winner | Score | Opponent | MVP | Venue |
|---|
| 1984 | UTEP | 62–55 | New Mexico | Juden Smith, UTEP | Special Events Center (El Paso, Texas) |
| 1985 | San Diego State | 87–81 | UTEP | Luster Goodwin, UTEP |
| 1986 | UTEP | 65–64 | Wyoming | Eric Leckner, Wyoming | Arena-Auditorium (Laramie, Wyoming) |
| 1987 | Wyoming | 64–62 | New Mexico | The Pit (Albuquerque, New Mexico) |
| 1988 | Wyoming | 79–75 | | Marriott Center (Provo, Utah) |
| 1989 | UTEP | 73–60 | Colorado State | Tim Hardaway, UTEP | Jon M. Huntsman Center (Salt Lake City, Utah) |
| 1990 | UTEP | 75–58 | | Greg Foster, UTEP | Special Events Center (El Paso, Texas) |
| 1991 | BYU | 51–49 | | Shawn Bradley, BYU | Arena-Auditorium (Laramie, Wyoming) |
| 1992 | BYU | 73–71 | UTEP | Eddie Rivera, UTEP | Moby Arena (Fort Collins, Colorado) |
| 1993 | New Mexico | 76–65 | UTEP | Ike Williams, New Mexico | Delta Center (Salt Lake City) |
| 1994 | Hawaii | 73–66 | BYU | Trevor Ruffin, Hawaii |
| 1995 | Utah | 67–54 | | Keith Van Horn, Utah | The Pit (Albuquerque, New Mexico) |
| 1996 | New Mexico | 64–60 | | Kenny Thomas, New Mexico |
| 1997 | Utah | 89–68 | TCU | Keith Van Horn, Utah | Thomas & Mack Center (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 1998 | UNLV | 56–51 | | Kenny Thomas, New Mexico |
| 1999 | Utah | 60–45 | New Mexico | Alex Jensen, Utah |
| 2000 | Fresno State | 75–72 | | Courtney Alexander, Fresno State | Selland Arena (Fresno, California) |
| 2001 | Hawaii | 78–72 | | Carl English, Hawaii | Reynolds Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| 2002 | Hawaii | 73–59 | Tulsa | Predrag Savović, Hawaii |
| 2003 | Tulsa | 75–64 | | Kevin Johnson, Tulsa |
| 2004 | Nevada | 66–60 | UTEP | Kirk Snyder, Nevada | Save Mart Center (Fresno, California) |
| 2005 | UTEP | 91–78 | | Filiberto Rivera, UTEP | Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada) |
| 2006 | Nevada | 70–63 | Utah State | Nick Fazekas, Nevada |
| 2007 | New Mexico State | 72–70 | Utah State | Justin Hawkins, New Mexico State | Pan American Center (Las Cruces, New Mexico) |
| 2008 | Boise State | 107–102 3OT | New Mexico State | Reggie Larry, Boise State |
| 2009 | Utah State | 72–62 | Nevada | Gary Wilkinson, Utah State | Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada) |
| 2010 | New Mexico State | 69–63 | Utah State | Jamhar Young, New Mexico State |
| 2011 | Utah State | 77–69 | Boise State | Brockeith Pane, Utah State | Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 2012 | New Mexico State | 82–57 | Louisiana Tech | Wendell McKines, New Mexico State |
| 2013 | New Mexico State | 64–55 | Texas–Arlington | Sim Bhullar, New Mexico State |
| 2014 | New Mexico State | 77–55 | Idaho |
| 2015 | New Mexico State | 80–61 | Seattle | Tshilidzi Nephawe, New Mexico State |
| 2016 | Cal State Bakersfield | 57–54 | New Mexico State | Dedrick Basile, Cal State Bakersfield |
| 2017 | New Mexico State | 70–60 | Cal State Bakersfield | Ian Baker, New Mexico State |
| 2018 | New Mexico State | 72–58 | Grand Canyon | Jemerrio Jones, New Mexico State |
| 2019 | New Mexico State | 89–57 | Grand Canyon | Trevelin Queen, New Mexico State |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic |
| 2021 | Grand Canyon | 74–56 | New Mexico State | Jovan Blacksher, Grand Canyon | Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 2022 | New Mexico State | 66–52 | Abilene Christian | Teddy Allen, New Mexico State |
| 2023 | Grand Canyon | 84–66 | Southern Utah | Rayshon Harrison, Grand Canyon |
| 2024 | Grand Canyon | 89–74 | UT Arlington | Tyon Grant-Foster, Grand Canyon | |
Performance by school
| School | Championships | class=unsortable | Years |
|---|
| New Mexico State | 10 | 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 |
| UTEP | 5 | 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 2005 |
| Grand Canyon | 3 | 2021, 2023, 2024 |
| Hawaii | 3 | 1994, 2001, 2002 |
| Utah | 3 | 1995, 1997, 1999 |
| BYU | 2 | 1991, 1992 |
| Nevada | 2 | 2004, 2006 |
| New Mexico | 2 | 1993, 1996 |
| Utah State | 2 | 2009, 2011 |
| Wyoming | 2 | 1987, 1988 |
| Boise State | 1 | 2008 |
| Cal State Bakersfield | 1 | 2016 |
| Fresno State | 1 | 2000 |
| San Diego State | 1 | 1985 |
| Tulsa | 1 | 2003 |
| UNLV | 1 | 1998 |
| UT Arlington | 0 | |
| Abilene Christian | 0 | |
| Colorado State | 0 | |
| Idaho | 0 | |
| Louisiana Tech | 0 | |
| Seattle | 0 | |
| Southern Utah | 0 | |
| TCU | 0 | | |
- Schools highlighted in yellow are current members of the WAC.
- Among current WAC members, California Baptist, Stephen F. Austin, Utah Valley, and UTRGV have competed in at least one WAC tournament, but failed to reach the title game.
- Tarleton and Utah Tech have yet to play in a WAC tournament. Both started transitions from NCAA Division II to Division I in 2020, and are ineligible for NCAA-sponsored postseason play until 2024–25. Current WAC rules allow transitional schools to play in the WAC tournament upon their arrival in the conference.
Broadcasters
Television
Radio
See also
Notes and References
- WAC Adopts Seeding System for Basketball Tournaments . Western Athletic Conference . July 15, 2022 . September 17, 2022.
- http://the506.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1228172635{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- Web site: What to Watch: College basketball lovers rejoice . 2009-03-01 . dead . https://archive.today/20090207080430/http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/MYSA03022007_whattowatch_11f571e4_html9032.html . 7 February 2009 .
- Web site: Farther off the Wall . 2012-07-30 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110923092617/http://www.insidesocal.com/tomhoffarth/archives/2008/03/march_media_not.html . 23 September 2011 . dmy-all .
- Web site: 20090226_ChampionshipWeekBeginsMarch5 . 2009-03-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090307005937/http://www.espnmediazone.com/press_releases/2009_02_feb/20090226_ChampionshipWeekBeginsMarch5.htm . 7 March 2009 .
- Web site: Championship Week Begins Thursday, March 4 | ESPN MediaZone . 2010-12-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100412122753/http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2010/03/championship-week-begins-thursday-march-4/ . 12 April 2010 .
- http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2011/04/championship-week-begins-march-7/{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- Web site: Championship Week: Coverage of a Record 137 Men's Games Begins March 1 | ESPN MediaZone . 2012-02-29 . dead . https://archive.today/20120301005847/http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2012/02/27/championship-week-coverage-of-a-record-137-men%E2%80%99s-games-begins-march-1/ . 1 March 2012 . dmy-all .
- Web site: Championship Week Presented by DIck's Sporting Goods Schedule. 4 March 2013.
- Web site: Championship Week Presented by DIck's Sporting Goods Schedule. 5 March 2014.
- http://the506.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1267859867;start=all{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- Web site: WAC Championship Highlights: New Mexico State 82 – Louisiana Tech 57 | Dial Global Sports . 28 February 2013 . https://archive.today/20130408020115/http://dialglobalsports.com/2012/03/wac-championship-highlights-new-mexico-state-82-louisiana-tech-57/ . 8 April 2013 . dead . dmy-all .
