1988 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1988 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was the thirteenth edition, held March 9–12 at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.[1]

1988 Big Sky Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1987–88
Teams8
SiteBrick Breeden Fieldhouse
Bozeman, Montana
ChampionsBoise State (2nd title)
Winning coachBobby Dye (1st title)
MVPChris Childs (Boise State)
1987–88 Big Sky men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
Boise State †13–3 .813  24–6  .800
Idaho11–5 .688  19–11  .633
Montana State10–6 .625  18–11  .621
Idaho State8–8 .500  15–13  .536
Nevada8–8 .500  15–13  .536
Montana7–9 .438  18–11  .621
Northern Arizona6–9 .400  9–18  .333
Weber State6–9 .400  9–20  .310
Eastern Washington2–14 .125  6–21  .222
† Big Sky Tournament winner

Regular season champion Boise State defeated defending tournament champion and host Montana State in the championship game, 63–61, [2] to clinch their second Big Sky tournament. BSU had won the first conference tournament twelve years earlier.

Format

The Big Sky added Eastern Washington in the summer of 1987 to bring total conference membership to nine, but EWU was ineligible for the postseason due to recruiting violations.[3]

In the previous year's tournament, the top three seeds were upset in the first round (quarterfinals),[4] and seventh-seed Idaho State won the title. The Bengals were then seeded sixteenth (last) in the West region of the NCAA tournament and were routed in the first round by UNLV in Salt Lake City.[5]

The Big Sky implemented a few changes to the bracket structure to reward regular season play. The top two teams in the league standings were given byes into the semifinal round, while the third- and fourth-seeded teams began play in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The remaining four teams (seeds 5–8) played an additional game on Wednesday; four victories in as many days were now required for a lower-half team to win the title.[3][6] The top four seeds advanced to the semifinals and the tournament was won by the top-seed.

Bracket
First Round
Wednesday, March 9		 Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 10		 Semifinals
Friday, March 11		 Championship
Saturday, March 12
     
             
             
          1 Boise State 87  
5 Nevada 93       4 Idaho State 56  
8 Weber State 96     8 Weber State 57  
        4 Idaho State 58  
          1 Boise State 63
          3 Montana State 61
        3 Montana State 60  
7 Northern Arizona 72     6 Montana 54  
6 Montana 77       3 Montana State 58  
          2 Idaho 46  
                 
                 
     

Source:[7][8][9][10]

NCAA tournament

Boise State (24–5) received the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and no other Big Sky members were invited to the tournament or the NIT. The Broncos were the fourteenth seed in the West region and gave third-seeded Michigan a scare in Salt Lake City, as the Wolverines' large lead eroded in the second half; Michigan prevailed by five points.[11]

References
  1. "1987-88 Big Sky Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  2. Grummert, Dale (March 13, 1988). "No wacky ending here, Boise State wins Big Sky". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1C.
  3. "New format may favor top seeds". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 9, 1988. p. 1D.
  4. Boling, Dave (March 6, 1987). "Idaho cures free-throw blues, upsets Griz". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 25.
  5. Robinson, Doug (March 13, 1987). "UNLF runs, guns, plays defense in routing Idaho St". Deseret News. p. D1.
  6. Jacobson, Bryan (March 8, 1988). "Will Big Sky send another loser to NCAA tourney?". Idahonian. (Moscow). p. 8A.
  7. "Gibbs helps Weber St. score first-round upset". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 10, 1988. p. 3D.
  8. Grummert, Dale (March 11, 1988). "Idaho gets rematch against MSU". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). p. 1B.
  9. "Idaho St. stops Weber St". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 11, 1988. p. 5B.
  10. "Boise St. smothers Idaho St. in Big Sky". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 12, 1988. p. 8B.
  11. "Michigan stops Boise State rally". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. March 18, 1988. p. 1B.
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