2026 Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Basics
Format
The final WAC Tournament will feature seven teams, since Utah Valley’s administration put its exit fees in escrow yesterday. The top two seeds received byes to the semifinals, with teams three through five entering in the quarterfinals, and the bottom two playing in the opening round.
Site
The tournament is set for Orleans Arena between Wednesday and Saturday. There is no overlap with the WCC for the final edition.
Schedule
TV/Streaming Info
ESPN+ ($) will stream all games before the championship.
First Round (Wed. 3/11)
Gm. 1: (7) Tarleton State (14-17,
5-13) vs. (6) Abilene Christian (13-18, 5-13), 8:30 The Wildcats won 84-80 (away) on 1/8 and 73-59 (home) on 2/14. The Texans won 65-62 (OT) (home) on 2/16.
Quarterfinals (Thurs. 3/12)
Gm. 2: (5) Southern Utah (10-21, 6-12) vs. (4) UT Arlington (17-13, 9-9), 9
The Mavericks won 86-77 (away) on 1/3 and 89-61 (home) on 1/29. The Thunderbirds won 78-73 (away) on 2/14.
Gm. 3: Gm. 1 winner vs. (3) Utah Tech (18-14, 11-7), 11:30*
Semifinals (Fri. 3/13)
Gm. 4: Gm. 2 winner vs. (1) Utah Valley (24-7, 14-4), 9
Gm. 5: Gm. 3 winner vs. (2) California Baptist (23-8, 13-5), 11:30*
Championship (Sat. 3/14)
Gm. 6: Semifinal winners, 12 a.m. (ESPN2)
Mayhem Potential
Data originally posted by Bob Vetrone Jr. on Twitter in 2020 with my own additions for the seasons beyond.
Grand Canyon had won four of the past five titles, but the Lopes are in the Mountain West. New Mexico State, who won the 2022 title and seven total titles since 2011, is now in Conference USA. 2016 champ Cal State Bakersfield is in the Big West and 2011 winner Utah State is in the Mountain West (until moving to the Pac-? after this season). These numbers will be pretty worthless this summer, as after the conference morphs into the United Athletic Conference, with more of a focus from Texas eastward.
- 1 seed (7): 2011, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024
- 2 seed (5): 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2025
- 3 seed (1): 2013
- 5 seed (1): 2023
NCAA Seeding Record In The 68-Team Era
Years with an NCAA win are in bold.
- 12 seed (5): 2011, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024
- 13 seed (4): 2012, 2013, 2014, 2025
- 14 seed (2): 2017, 2023
- 15 seed (3): 2015, 2016, 2021
Current Mountain West member Utah State is responsible for the WAC’s last at-large bid, back in the final 65-team year of 2010.
The WAC champ has avoided the 16 line since the field expanded to 68. That should continue, particularly if Utah Valley is involved and wins, as the Wolverines are projected as a 13 seed.
Last NCAA Tournament Appearances
Abilene Christian: 2021 (14 seed, 2nd Round, Southland member)
UT Arlington: 2008 (16 seed, 1st Round, Southland member)
Southern Utah: 2001 (14 seed, 1st Round, Mid-Continent (Summit) member)
Seattle: 1969 (unseeded, 1st Round)
Utah Valley and Cal Baptist have never reached the NCAAs. Neither have Tarleton State or Utah Tech, but both are only in their second season of eligibility after completing the reclassification process.
