Credit: New Mexico State University Athletics
Over the past decade, the WAC basketball tournament has been dominated by New Mexico State. The Aggies have won seven of the last nine conference titles and split the regular-season championship this season with both Seattle and Stephen F. Austin. Thanks to the new WAC Tournament format, the Aggies and Redhawks will both receive a bye all the way to the Semifinal Round. The Western Athletic Conference also has several members that are still in the process of transitioning to the Division I level of college basketball. The final WAC basketball standings don’t exactly line up with the conference tournament field. The following contains the WAC Tournament bracket and schedule, as well as a preview of what we can expect to see.
Check out the FlurrySports Conference Tournaments Hub for wall-to-wall college basketball coverage throughout the leadup to March Madness!
| Team | Conf. Record | Overall Record | Seed |
| New Mexico State | 14-4 | 24-6 | 1 seed |
| Seattle | 14-4 | 23-8 | 2 seed |
| Stephen F. Austin | 14-4 | 22-8 | 3 seed |
| Grand Canyon | 13-5 | 22-7 | 4 seed |
| Sam Houston State | 13-5 | 18-13 | 5 seed |
| Abilene Christian | 11-7 | 20-9 | 6 seed |
| Utah Valley | 10-8 | 19-11 | 7 seed |
| California Baptist | 7-11 | 17-14 | 8 seed |
| UTRGV | 3-15 | 8-22 | 9 seed |
| Chicago State | 3-15 | 7-24 | 10 seed |
| Tarleton State | 9-9 | 14-17 | N/A |
| Dixie State | 6-12 | 13-18 | N/A |
| Lamar | 0-18 | 2-27 | N/A |
Dates: March 9-12
TV Schedule: ESPN+ (First Round, Second Round, Quarterfinals, Semifinals); ESPNU (Championship Game)
Venue: Orleans Arena — Las Vegas, NV
Byes: Top 6 receive single bye; Top 4 receive double-bye; Top 2 receive triple-bye
Defending Champion: Grand Canyon
New Mexico State advances to NCAA Tournament
While New Mexico State has been the team to beat in WAC basketball for quite some time now, the Aggies failed to emerge from the tournament bracket victorious a season ago. Instead, it was Grand Canyon delighting their passionate fanbase by securing the program’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament. After a down year of sorts, the Aggies jumped right back up to tie for first place in this year’s WAC basketball standings. However, a stunning upset loss to 10-seed Chicago State late in the year served as a reminder that there are no givens in the Western Athletic Conference.
Joining New Mexico State at the top of the conference standings were Seattle and Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks come into the WAC basketball tournament bracket with more momentum than anyone after winning each of their final ten games to close the regular season. The run included a two-point road win over NMSU to earn a share of the conference title. According to the College Basketball NET Rankings, this year’s tournament is much more than just a three-team race. Joining New Mexico State with a top-100 NET ranking is defending champ and 4-seed Grand Canyon. Meanwhile, 7-seed Utah Valley is also highly-regarded at No. 114 in the NET.
In many respects, the preseason WAC basketball poll more closely resembles the final NET rankings order for the conference than the actual standings themselves. New Mexico State was correctly tabbed to finish first, while co-regular season champ Stephen F. Austin also received one first-place vote. Seattle, however, did not. The Redhawks greatly exceeded a sixth-place preseason projection. Meanwhile, Utah Valley was projected to finish fourth but will be forced to open up their WAC Tournament journey in the very first round as a result of finishing seventh.
Net Ranking: 87 (No. 1 in WAC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 87 (No. 1 in WAC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 107.4 (No. 99)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 98.3 (No. 74)
Strength of Schedule Rating: +0.49 (No. 139)
Net Ranking: 121 (No. 5 in WAC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 130 (No. 5 in WAC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 100.4 (No. 242)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 97.3 (No. 62)
Strength of Schedule Rating: -5.40 (No. 287)
Net Ranking: 111 (No. 3 in WAC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 108 (No. 3 in WAC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 104.1 (No. 168)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 98.4 (No. 75)
Strength of Schedule Rating: -1.54 (No. 188)
Net Ranking: 88 (No. 2 in WAC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 91 (No. 2 in WAC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 104.2 (No. 161)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 95.8 (No. 43)
Strength of Schedule Rating: -3.60 (No. 239)
Net Ranking: 164 (No. 7 in WAC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 153 (No. 7 in WAC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 101.4 (No. 222)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 100.1 (No. 110)
Strength of Schedule Rating: -0.44 (No. 156)
Net Ranking: 136 (No. 6 in WAC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 137 (No. 6 in WAC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 102.2 (No. 202)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 99.6 (No. 98)
Strength of Schedule Rating: -3.54 (No. 236)
Net Ranking: 114 (No. 4 in WAC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 111 (No. 4 in WAC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 103.0 (No. 191)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 97.9 (No. 70)
Strength of Schedule Rating: -0.55 (No. 158)
Net Ranking: 208 (No. 8 in WAC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 204 (No. 8 in WAC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 101.3 (No. 224)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 104.1 (No. 190)
Strength of Schedule Rating: -5.10 (No. 280)
Net Ranking: 309 (No. 11 in WAC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 300 (No. 11 in WAC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 100.6 (No. 237)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 112.3 (No. 331)
Strength of Schedule Rating: -0.99 (No. 173)
Net Ranking: 338 (No. 12 in WAC)
KenPom Overall Efficiency Ranking: 340 (No. 12 in WAC)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 96.3 (No. 308)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 113.6 (No. 344)
Strength of Schedule Rating: -1.20 (No. 178)
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This post was last modified on March 17, 2022 2:48 PM
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