2026 WAC men's basketball tournament
| 2026 WAC men's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2025–26 |
| Teams | 7 |
| Site | Orleans Arena Paradise, Nevada |
| Television | ESPN+, ESPN2 |
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California Baptist | 9 | – | 4 | .692 | 19 | – | 7 | .731 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Tech | 9 | – | 4 | .692 | 16 | – | 11 | .593 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Utah Valley | 8 | – | 4 | .667 | 18 | – | 7 | .720 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UT Arlington | 6 | – | 7 | .462 | 14 | – | 11 | .560 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Southern Utah | 5 | – | 8 | .385 | 9 | – | 17 | .346 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abilene Christian | 4 | – | 8 | .333 | 12 | – | 13 | .480 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tarleton | 3 | – | 9 | .250 | 12 | – | 13 | .480 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2026 WAC tournament winner As of February 14, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2026 WAC men's basketball tournament is the postseason men's basketball tournament of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) for the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The tournament will be played from March 11–14, 2026 with all rounds at the Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada near Las Vegas.[1] This will be the 16th year that the tournament will be held at the Orleans Arena.[2] The winner will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.[3][4]
Seeds
All seven members are invited to the tournament.[5] The field for the WAC tournament has varied from six to twelve qualifiers.[6] All teams are eligible for the NCAA tournament including Tarleton and Utah Tech which completed their transition to Division I in 2024.[7] For the 2025 WAC tournament, seeding was determined by conference record with ties broken first by head-to-head competition, then by the WAC Résumé Seeding System points.[8] The highest two seeded teams will receive byes to the semifinals in this year's tournament.[9] Only Abilene Christian, UT Arlington and Southern Utah have participated in the NCAA tournament in the past, the other four teams have never been invited.[10]
| Seed | School | Conference record | Tiebreak 1 | Tiebreak 2 / WAC Seeding points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||
| 2 | ||||
| 3 | ||||
| 4 | ||||
| 5 | ||||
| 6 | ||||
| 7 |
Schedule
| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup# | Score | Television | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round – Wednesday, March 11, 2026 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 5:30 p.m. | No. 6 seed vs No. 7 seed | ESPN+ | ||
| Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 12, 2026 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada | ||||||
| 3 | 2 | 6:00 p.m. | No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed | ESPN+ | ||
| 3 | 8:30 p.m. | Game 1 winner vs. No. 3 seed | ||||
| Semifinals – Friday, March 13, 2026 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | 6:00 p.m. | Game 2 winner vs. No. 1 seed | ESPN+ | ||
| 5 | 8:30 p.m. | Game 3 winner vs. No. 2 seed | ||||
| Championship – Saturday, March 14, 2026 – Orleans Arena, Paradise, Nevada | ||||||
| 5 | 6 | 9:00 p.m. | Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner | ESPN2 | ||
| * Game times in PDT for all rounds.
#Rankings denote tournament seeding. | ||||||
Bracket
| First Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||
| 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
Awards
| Award | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| Most Outstanding Player | ||
| All-Tournament Team | ||
See also
- 2026 WAC women's basketball tournament
- Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
References
- ^ Collom, Ryley; Communications, Assistant Director of Athletic; Media, Digital (January 1, 2026). "The WAC Announces 2025-26 Basketball Conference Schedule". CBU Athletics. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
- ^ Collom, Ryley; Communications, Assistant Director of Athletic; Media, Digital (January 1, 2026). "The WAC Releases Tournament Schedule and Format for 2024-2025 Season". CBU Athletics. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
- ^ "What is an at-large bid in March Madness? | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
- ^ "Utah Valley's 2025-26 WAC Schedule Officially Announced". Utah Valley University Athletics. January 12, 2026. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
- ^ "This Week In WAC Men's Basketball - Oct. 30". wacsports.com. January 13, 2026. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
- ^ "WAC Tournament format, dates set". Grand Canyon University Athletics. November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- ^ "IT'S OFFICIAL! Utah Tech University Completes NCAA Division I Transition". Utah Tech University Athletics. January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
- ^ "2024 25 WAC MBB Resume Seeding As of March 7 (PDF) - Western Athletic Conference" (PDF). wacsports.com. Retrieved March 9, 2025.
- ^ "2026 WAC Basketball Tournament - Western Athletic Conference". wacsports.com. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
- ^ McDonald, Kyle. "Welcome to the 2025-26 Season - The Final Go Around for WAC Hoops". www.wachoopsnation.com. Retrieved January 16, 2026.