1998 WAC Men's Basketball Tournament

1998 WAC Men's Basketball Tournament
Classification Division I
Season 199798
Teams 12
Site Thomas & Mack Center
Paradise, NV
Champions UNLV (1st title)
Winning coach Bill Bayno (1st title)
MVP Kenny Thomas (New Mexico)

The 1998 Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 3–7 at the Thomas & Mack Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Paradise, Nevada.[1]

Hosts UNLV upset New Mexico in the championship game, 56–51, to clinch their first WAC men's tournament championship.

The Rebels, in turn, received an automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA Tournament. They were joined in the tournament by three other WAC members, New Mexico, TCU, and Utah, who all earned at-large bids. Utah, who was also the WAC regular season champion, ultimately went on to the national championship game, losing to Kentucky, while knocking off San Francisco, Arkansas, West Virginia, Arizona, and North Carolina on their way to title game.

Format

No changes were made to the tournament format from the 1997 tournament. Teams were again seeded based on their position within either the Mountain or Pacific Division (top six teams only).

Bracket

  First Round
Tuesday, March 3
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 5
Semifinals
Friday, March 6
Championship
Saturday, March 7
                                     
       
  P1 TCU 71  
    P5 SMU 69  
P5 SMU 76
M4 Colorado State 71  
  P1 TCU 73  
  M2 New Mexico 80  
P3 Tulsa 59  
M6 BYU 56  
  M2 New Mexico 60
    P3 Tulsa 59  
     
       
  M2 New Mexico 51
  M5 UNLV 56
       
       
  P2 Fresno State 92
    P6 San Diego State 57  
M3 Wyoming 57
P6 San Diego State 60  
  P2 Fresno State 67
  M5 UNLV 76  
P4 Hawaii 59  
M5 UNLV 64  
  M5 UNLV 54
    M1 Utah 51  
     


References

  1. "1997-98 Western Athletic Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
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