Southern Utah took home its first Big Sky regular season title. Can they carry this momentum into the NCAA Tournament. The Big Sky’s seeding is kind of confusing this year. They used record against common opponents rather than overall record as a tiebreaker between teams with similar conference records. With that being said, the Big Sky was one of the tournaments that did not finish last season, leaving Montana as the reigning champions. The following contains the Big Sky Tournament bracket and schedule, as well as a preview of what we can expect to see.
Big Sky Basketball Conference Standings
| Team | Conference Record | Overall Record | Tournament Outlook |
| Southern Utah | 12-2 | 19-3 | 1 Seed |
| Weber State | 12-3 | 17-5 | 3 Seed |
| Eastern Washington | 12-3 | 13-7 | 2 Seed |
| Idaho State | 8-6 | 13-10 | 4 Seed |
| Montana State | 8-6 | 11-9 | 5 Seed |
| Montana | 7-9 | 13-12 | 6 Seed |
| Northern Colorado | 6-8 | 10-10 | 8 Seed |
| Portland State | 6-8 | 9-12 | 7 Seed |
| Sacramento State | 5-9 | 8-11 | 9 Seed |
| Northern Arizona | 4-10 | 5-15 | 10 Seed |
| Idaho | 1-17 | 1-20 | 11 Seed |
Big Sky Basketball Tournament Schedule
Dates: March 10-13
TV: Pluto TV, Eleven, ESPNU
Site: Idaho Central Arena, Boise, ID
Byes: Top-5 get single bye
Most Recent Champion: Montana
Big Sky Basketball Tournament Bracket
First Round
- (8) Northern Colorado 90 vs. (9) Sacramento State 83
- (7) Portland State 66 vs. (10) Northern Arizona 77
- (6) Montana 69 vs. (11) Idaho 64
Quarterfinals
- (1) Southern Utah 91, (8) Northern Colorado 83
- (5) Montana State 71, (4) Idaho State 63
- (2) Eastern Washington 66, (10) Northern Arizona 60
- (6) Montana 80, (3) Weber State 75
Semifinals
- (5) Montana State 80, (1) Southern Utah 77
- (2) Eastern Washington 78, (6) Montana 50
Championship
- (5) Montana State 55, (2) Eastern Washington 65
Eastern Washington advances to the NCAA Tournament
Big Sky Basketball Tournament Breakdown
With the exception of Northern Arizona and Idaho, every team in the conference had a positive NET Rating. The highest in the conference though was Southern Utah at +21.6. Southern Utah finished the season on a nine game winning streak. The Thunderbirds feature four players who average 12 or more points a game. Southern Utah is one of the best offensive teams in the country, proved by their 84.2 points per game (ranking sixth in the country). While they don’t shoot the three exceptionally, they do come into the tournament with 58.5 two-point percentage. The Thunderbirds also get average 23 free throw attempts a game, good for 13th in the country. Based off of their offense alone, Southern Utah should have an easy time in the Big Sky tournament.
Weber State is a team that can challenge Southern Utah though. The Wildcats won 14 out of their last 16 games. Weber State is led by Isiah Brown who scores 18 points a game. Brown does have help though as the next six highest scoring players on Weber State average more than seven points. The Wildcats shoot the 39% from three point range. They also shoot 51% from the field.
The biggest overachiever in relation to the preseason rankings was Southern Utah, who was projected to finish sixth, but actually finished first. The biggest underachiever in relation to the preseason rankings was Montana, who was projected to finish second, but actually finished sixth.
