It’s been an interesting WAC basketball season, to say the least. One team up and quit their season over virus issues (or was it horrendous play? We may never know). Two more are in their first transition year to Division I and are ineligible for postseason play. Add it all up and only six teams will compete in this year’s WAC Tournament. Can regular-season champ Grand Canyon break through and clinch their first NCAA Tournament appearance? Read on for the WAC Tournament bracket and schedule, as well as a preview of what we can expect to see.
Check out our College Basketball Conference Tournaments Hub for more Champ Week coverage!
WAC Conference Standings
| Team | Conference Record | Overall Record | Tournament Outlook |
| Grand Canyon | 9-3 | 15-6 | 1 seed |
| Utah Valley | 9-4 | 11-10 | 2 seed |
| New Mexico State | 7-6 | 10-7 | 3 seed |
| California Baptist | 6-6 | 13-9 | 4 seed |
| Seattle | 4-5 | 11-10 | 5 seed |
| UT Rio Grande Valley | 2-5 | 9-9 | 6 seed |
| Tarleton | 5-7 | 10-10 | N/A |
| Dixie State | 4-10 | 8-13 | N/A |
| Chicago State | 0-0 | 0-9 | N/A |
WAC Tournament Schedule
Dates: March 11-13
TV: ESPNU, ESPN+
Site: Orleans Arena — Las Vegas, NV
Byes: Top 2 get single bye
Most Recent Champion: New Mexico State
WAC Tournament Bracket
First Round
- (3) New Mexico State 77, (6) UT Rio Grande Valley 61
- (5) Seattle 83, (4) California Baptist 66
Semifinals
- (1) Grand Canyon 81, (5) Seattle 47
- (3) New Mexico State 78, (2) Utah Valley 62
Championship
- (1) Grand Canyon 74, (3) New Mexico State 56
Grand Canyon advances to NCAA Tournament
WAC Conference Breakdown
The Western Athletic Conference has more or less been a pipeline to the NCAA Tournament for New Mexico State in recent years. The Aggies have won each of the last three WAC basketball championships and seven of the last eight overall. Since the conference became a basketball-only league, the only other team to win a WAC Tournament title was CSU Bakersfield in 2016. Aside from NMSU, no other current WAC schools have ever been to the NCAA Tournament. Top seed Grand Canyon has lost to New Mexico State in each of the last two WAC Tournament finals.
Grand Canyon and New Mexico State are the only two WAC basketball teams that rank in the top 200 of the College Basketball Net Rankings. The Antelopes enter Champ Week at 137 while the Aggies are 181. Utah Valley sits just outside the top 200 in the Net at 206. In terms of scoring offense, California Baptist led the WAC this season with an average of 79.7 points per game. This mark was over four points better than the second-place offense of Grand Canyon (75.5). The Antelopes rode a conference-best scoring defense (61.9 points allowed per game) to the 1-seed in the WAC Tournament.
There was a whole lot of shuffling that took place between the WAC basketball preseason poll and the final season standings. The biggest overachiever in the WAC this year was 2-seed Utah Valley, who was picked to finish seventh. UT Rio Grande Valley was a big underachiever, finishing seventh in the season standings after being picked third. Tarleton and Dixie State are both ineligible for postseason play as they transition to Division I. Chicago State will also be absent from Las Vegas this week, as they have from the entire WAC basketball season.
