WAC Men's Basketball Tournament

WAC Men's Basketball Tournament
Conference Basketball Championship
Sport College basketball
Conference Western Athletic Conference
Number of teams 8
Format Single-elimination tournament
Current stadium Orleans Arena
Current location Paradise, Nevada
Played 1984–present
Last contest 2015
Current champion New Mexico State
Most championships New Mexico State Aggies (6)
Official website WACSports.com Men's Basketball

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 1964, 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 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, the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada.

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 Special Events Center (El Paso, Texas)
1986 UTEP 65–64 Wyoming Eric Leckner, Wyoming Arena-Auditorium (Laramie, Wyoming)
1987 Wyoming 64–62 New Mexico Eric Leckner, Wyoming The Pit (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
1988 Wyoming 79–75 UTEP Eric Leckner, Wyoming 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 Hawaiʻi Greg Foster, UTEP Special Events Center (El Paso, Texas)
1991 BYU 51–49 Utah 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, Utah)
1994 Hawaiʻi 73–66 BYU Trevor Ruffin, Hawaiʻi Delta Center (Salt Lake City, Utah)
1995 Utah 67–54 Hawaii Keith Van Horn, Utah The Pit (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
1996 New Mexico 64–60 Utah Kenny Thomas, New Mexico The Pit (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
1997 Utah 89–68 TCU Keith Van Horn, Utah Thomas & Mack Center (Paradise, Nevada)
1998 UNLV 56–51 New Mexico Kenny Thomas, New Mexico Thomas & Mack Center (Paradise, Nevada)
1999 Utah 60–45 New Mexico Alex Jensen, Utah Thomas & Mack Center (Paradise, Nevada)
2000 Fresno State 75–72 Tulsa Courtney Alexander, Fresno State Selland Arena (Fresno, California)
2001 Hawaiʻi 78–72 Tulsa Carl English, Hawaiʻi Reynolds Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
2002 Hawaiʻi 73–59 Tulsa Predrag Savovic, Hawaiʻi Reynolds Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
2003 Tulsa 75–64 Nevada Kevin Johnson, Tulsa Reynolds Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
2004 Nevada 66–60 UTEP Kirk Snyder, Nevada Save Mart Center (Fresno, California)
2005 UTEP 91–78 Boise State Filiberto Rivera, UTEP Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada)
2006 Nevada 70–63 Utah State Nick Fazekas, Nevada Lawlor Events Center (Reno, 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 Pan American Center (Las Cruces, New Mexico)
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 Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada)
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 Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada)
2013 New Mexico State 64–55 Texas–Arlington Sim Bhullar, New Mexico State Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada)
2014 New Mexico State 77–55 Idaho Sim Bhullar, New Mexico State Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada)
2015 New Mexico State 80–61 Seattle Tshilidzi Nephawe, New Mexico State Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada)
2016 Cal State Bakersfield 57–54 New Mexico State Dedrick Basile, Cal State Bakersfield Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada)

Performance by school

School Finals Record Finals Appearances Title Years
New Mexico State 6–2 8 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
UTEP 5–5 10 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 2005
Hawaiʻi 3–2 5 1994, 2001, 2002
Utah 3–2 5 1995, 1997, 1999
Utah State 2–3 5 2009, 2011
Nevada 2–2 4 2004, 2006
New Mexico 2–4 6 1993, 1996
BYU 2–1 3 1991, 1992
Wyoming 2–1 3 1987, 1988
Cal State Bakersfield 1–0 1 2016
Boise State 1–2 3 2008
Tulsa 1–3 4 2003
Fresno State 1–0 1 2000
UNLV 1–0 1 1998
San Diego State 1–0 1 1985
Colorado State 0–1 1
Idaho 0–1 1
Louisiana Tech 0–1 1
Seattle 0–1 1
TCU 0–1 1
Texas–Arlington 0–1 1

Television coverage

See also

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 19, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.