WAC Men's Basketball Tournament

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.

WAC Men's Basketball Tournament
Conference Basketball Championship
SportCollege basketball
ConferenceWestern Athletic Conference
Number of teams9
FormatSingle-elimination tournament
Current stadiumOrleans Arena
Current locationParadise, Nevada
Played1984–present
Last contest2019
Current championNew Mexico State Aggies
Most championshipsNew Mexico State Aggies (9)
Official websiteWACSports.com Men's Basketball

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 Hawaii 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)
1994 Hawaii 73–66 BYU Trevor Ruffin, Hawaii Delta Center (Salt Lake City)
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 Hawaii 78–72 Tulsa Carl English, Hawaii Reynolds Center (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
2002 Hawaii 73–59 Tulsa Predrag Savović, Hawaii 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)
2017 New Mexico State 70–60 Cal State Bakersfield Ian Baker, New Mexico State Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada)
2018 New Mexico State 72–58 Grand Canyon Jemerrio Jones, New Mexico State Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada)
2019 New Mexico State 89–57 Grand Canyon Trevelin Queen, New Mexico State Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada)
2020 Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada)

Performance by school
School Championships Finals Record Finals Appearances Title Years
New Mexico State 9 9–2 11 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019
UTEP 5 5–5 10 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 2005
Hawaii 3 3–2 5 1994, 2001, 2002
Utah 3 3–2 5 1995, 1997, 1999
Utah State 2 2–3 5 2009, 2011
Nevada 2 2–2 4 2004, 2006
New Mexico 2 2–4 6 1993, 1996
BYU 2 2–1 3 1991, 1992
Wyoming 2 2–1 3 1987, 1988
Cal State Bakersfield 1 1–1 2 2016
Boise State 1 1–2 3 2008
Tulsa 1 1–3 4 2003
Fresno State 1 1–0 1 2000
UNLV 1 1–0 1 1998
San Diego State 1 1–0 1 1985
Grand Canyon 0 0–2 2
Colorado State 0 0–1 1
Idaho 0 0–1 1
Louisiana Tech 0 0–1 1
Seattle 0 0–1 1
TCU 0 0–1 1
Texas–Arlington 0 0–1 1
  • Schools highlighted in yellow are current members of the WAC

Broadcasters

Television
Year Network Play-by-play Analyst
1984[1] NBC Charlie Jones Dan Belluomini
2007[2] ESPN2 Terry Gannon Stephen Bardo
2008[3] ESPN2 Dave Pasch Michael Holton
2009[4] ESPN2 Terry Gannon Stephen Bardo
2010[5] ESPN2 Terry Gannon Stephen Bardo
2011 [6] ESPN2 Dave Flemming Sean Farnham
2012 [7] ESPN2 Dave Flemming Sean Farnham
2013 [8] ESPNU Trey Bender Stephen Howard
2014 [9] ESPNU Steve Quis Jon Crispin
2015 ESPNU Steve Quis Sean Harrington
2016 ESPNU Dave Flemming Malcolm Huckaby
2017 ESPNU Eric Rothman Paul Biancardi
2018 ESPNU Kanoa Leahey Corey Williams
2019 ESPNU Kanoa Leahey Adrian Branch
2020 ESPNU Dave Feldman Corey Williams

Radio
Year Network Play-by-play Analyst
2010[10] Westwood One Dave Sims Kyle Macy
2011 Westwood One
2012 [11] Dial Global Sports Kevin Calabro Tom Brennan

See also

References
  1. http://the506.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1228172635%5B%5D
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 September 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2011/04/championship-week-begins-march-7/%5B%5D
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 March 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2013/03/66592/
  9. http://espnmediazone.com/us/press-releases/2014/03/championship-week-presented-dicks-sporting-goods-schedule/
  10. http://the506.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1267859867;start=all%5B%5D
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 April 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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