WAC men's basketball tournament
# WAC men's basketball tournament

The Western Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament is the conference championship tournament in men's basketball for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). Even though the WAC was founded in 1962, the annual tournament has only been held since 1984.

The winner of the tournament is guaranteed a spot in the NCAA basketball tournament every year.

## Format and host

The event has alternated between being hosted at campus sites and neutral sites throughout its history. From the inaugural event in 1984 until 1992 the regular season champion hosted the tournament, but in 1993 and 1994 the event was held at the Delta Center (now Vivint Arena) in Salt Lake City which, although located less than five miles from then-conference member Utah's campus, was considered a neutral site. From 1995 through 2009 the event returned to on-campus sites, although the location was awarded through a predetermined bidding process rather than being given to the regular-season champion. Since 2010 the tournament has again been held at a neutral site, namely Orleans Arena in Paradise, Nevada.

Starting with the 2023 tournament, the WAC adopted a new seeding system based on advanced team metrics, developed in large part by statistical guru Ken Pomeroy. Tournament entry will still be based on conference record.

## Tournament results

| Year | Winner | Score | Opponent | MVP | Venue |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1984 | UTEP | 62–55 | New Mexico | Juden Smith, UTEP | Special Events Center (El Paso, Texas) |
| 1985 | San Diego State | 87–81 | UTEP | Luster Goodwin, UTEP | Special Events Center (El Paso, Texas) |
| 1986 | UTEP | 65–64 | Wyoming | Eric Leckner, Wyoming | Arena-Auditorium (Laramie, Wyoming) |
| 1987 | Wyoming | 64–62 | New Mexico | Eric Leckner, Wyoming | The Pit (Albuquerque, New Mexico) |
| 1988 | Wyoming | 79–75 | UTEP | Eric Leckner, Wyoming | Marriott Center (Provo, Utah) |
| 1989 | UTEP | 73–60 | Colorado State | Tim Hardaway, UTEP | Jon M. Huntsman Center (Salt Lake City, Utah) |
| 1990 | UTEP | 75–58 | Hawaii | Greg Foster, UTEP | Special Events Center (El Paso, Texas) |
| 1991 | BYU | 51–49 | Utah | Shawn Bradley, BYU | Arena-Auditorium (Laramie, Wyoming) |
| 1992 | BYU | 73–71 | UTEP | Eddie Rivera, UTEP | Moby Arena (Fort Collins, Colorado) |
| 1993 | New Mexico | 76–65 | UTEP | Ike Williams, New Mexico | Delta Center (Salt Lake City) |
| 1994 | Hawaii | 73–66 | BYU | Trevor Ruffin, Hawaii | Delta Center (Salt Lake City) |
| 1995 | Utah | 67–54 | Hawaii | Keith Van Horn, Utah | The Pit (Albuquerque, New Mexico) |
| 1996 | New Mexico | 64–60 | Utah | Kenny Thomas, New Mexico | The Pit (Albuquerque, New Mexico) |
| 1997 | Utah | 89–68 | TCU | Keith Van Horn, Utah | Thomas & Mack Center (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 1998 | UNLV | 56–51 | New Mexico | Kenny Thomas, New Mexico | Thomas & Mack Center (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 1999 | Utah | 60–45 | New Mexico | Alex Jensen, Utah | Thomas & Mack Center (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 2000 | Fresno State | 75–72 | Tulsa | Courtney Alexander, Fresno State | Selland Arena (Fresno, California) |
| 2001 | Hawaii | 78–72 | Tulsa | Carl English, Hawaii | Reynolds Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| 2002 | Hawaii | 73–59 | Tulsa | Predrag Savović, Hawaii | Reynolds Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| 2003 | Tulsa | 75–64 | Nevada | Kevin Johnson, Tulsa | Reynolds Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| 2004 | Nevada | 66–60 | UTEP | Kirk Snyder, Nevada | Save Mart Center (Fresno, California) |
| 2005 | UTEP | 91–78 | Boise State | Filiberto Rivera, UTEP | Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada) |
| 2006 | Nevada | 70–63 | Utah State | Nick Fazekas, Nevada | Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada) |
| 2007 | New Mexico State | 72–70 | Utah State | Justin Hawkins, New Mexico State | Pan American Center (Las Cruces, New Mexico) |
| 2008 | Boise State | 107–102 $^{3OT}$ | New Mexico State | Reggie Larry, Boise State | Pan American Center (Las Cruces, New Mexico) |
| 2009 | Utah State | 72–62 | Nevada | Gary Wilkinson, Utah State | Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada) |
| 2010 | New Mexico State | 69–63 | Utah State | Jamhar Young, New Mexico State | Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nevada) |
| 2011 | Utah State | 77–69 | Boise State | Brockeith Pane, Utah State | Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 2012 | New Mexico State | 82–57 | Louisiana Tech | Wendell McKines, New Mexico State | Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 2013 | New Mexico State | 64–55 | Texas–Arlington | Sim Bhullar, New Mexico State | Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 2014 | New Mexico State | 77–55 | Idaho | Sim Bhullar, New Mexico State | Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 2015 | New Mexico State | 80–61 | Seattle | Tshilidzi Nephawe, New Mexico State | Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 2016 | Cal State Bakersfield | 57–54 | New Mexico State | Dedrick Basile, Cal State Bakersfield | Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 2017 | New Mexico State | 70–60 | Cal State Bakersfield | Ian Baker, New Mexico State | Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 2018 | New Mexico State | 72–58 | Grand Canyon | Jemerrio Jones, New Mexico State | Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 2019 | New Mexico State | 89–57 | Grand Canyon | Trevelin Queen, New Mexico State | Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic |
| 2021 | Grand Canyon | 74–56 | New Mexico State | Jovan Blacksher, Grand Canyon | Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 2022 | New Mexico State | 66–52 | Abilene Christian | Teddy Allen, New Mexico State | Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada) |
| 2023 | Grand Canyon | 84–66 | Southern Utah | Rayshon Harrison, Grand Canyon | Orleans Arena (Paradise, Nevada) |

## Performance by school

| School | Championships | Finals Record | Finals Appearances | Years |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| New Mexico State | 10 | 10–3 | 13 | 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 |
| UTEP | 5 | 5–5 | 10 | 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990, 2005 |
| Hawaii | 3 | 3–2 | 5 | 1994, 2001, 2002 |
| Utah | 3 | 3–2 | 5 | 1995, 1997, 1999 |
| Utah State | 2 | 2–3 | 5 | 2009, 2011 |
| Nevada | 2 | 2–2 | 4 | 2004, 2006 |
| New Mexico | 2 | 2–4 | 6 | 1993, 1996 |
| BYU | 2 | 2–1 | 3 | 1991, 1992 |
| Wyoming | 2 | 2–1 | 3 | 1987, 1988 |
| Grand Canyon | 2 | 2–2 | 4 | 2021, 2023 |
| Cal State Bakersfield | 1 | 1–1 | 2 | 2016 |
| Boise State | 1 | 1–2 | 3 | 2008 |
| Tulsa | 1 | 1–3 | 4 | 2003 |
| Fresno State | 1 | 1–0 | 1 | 2000 |
| UNLV | 1 | 1–0 | 1 | 1998 |
| San Diego State | 1 | 1–0 | 1 | 1985 |
| Abilene Christian | 0 | 0–1 | 1 | |
| Colorado State | 0 | 0–1 | 1 | |
| Idaho | 0 | 0–1 | 1 | |
| Louisiana Tech | 0 | 0–1 | 1 | |
| Seattle | 0 | 0–1 | 1 | |
| Southern Utah | 0 | 0–1 | 1 | |
| TCU | 0 | 0–1 | 1 | |
| UT Arlington | 0 | 0–1 | 1 | |

* Schools highlighted in yellow are members of the WAC as of the current 2022–23 season.
* Among current WAC members, five have competed in at least one WAC tournament but failed to reach the title game: California Baptist, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Utah Valley, and UTRGV. The 2022–23 season is the first in which California Baptist is eligible for NCAA-sponsored postseason play.
* Two other members, Tarleton and Utah Tech (renamed from Dixie State before the 2022–23 season), have yet to play in a WAC tournament. Both started transitions from NCAA Division II to Division I in 2020, and are ineligible for NCAA-sponsored postseason play until 2024–25. Current WAC rules allow transitional schools to play in the WAC tournament upon their arrival in the conference, but before 2022–23 such schools were ineligible until their third transitional seasons. Both can play in the 2023 WAC tournament should they qualify.
* Southern Utah is playing its first WAC season in 2022–23.
* New Mexico State and Sam Houston will leave the WAC for Conference USA after the 2022–23 season.

## Broadcasters

### Television

| Year | Network | Play-by-play | Analyst |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1984 | NBC | Charlie Jones | Dan Belluomini |
| 1985 | Lorimar Sports Network | Larry Zimmer | Irv Brown |
| 1990 | TSI Sports | Carl Arky | Irv Brown |
| 1992 | ESPN | Craig Bolerjack | Terry Holland |
| 2007 | ESPN2 | Terry Gannon | Stephen Bardo |
| 2008 | ESPN2 | Dave Pasch | Michael Holton |
| 2009 | ESPN2 | Terry Gannon | Stephen Bardo |
| 2010 | ESPN2 | Terry Gannon | Stephen Bardo |
| 2011 | ESPN2 | Dave Flemming | Sean Farnham |
| 2012 | ESPN2 | Dave Flemming | Sean Farnham |
| 2013 | ESPNU | Trey Bender | Stephen Howard |
| 2014 | ESPNU | Steve Quis | Jon Crispin |
| 2015 | ESPNU | Steve Quis | Sean Harrington |
| 2016 | ESPNU | Dave Flemming | Malcolm Huckaby |
| 2017 | ESPNU | Eric Rothman | Paul Biancardi |
| 2018 | ESPNU | Kanoa Leahey | Corey Williams |
| 2019 | ESPNU | Kanoa Leahey | Adrian Branch |
| 2020 | ESPNU | Dave Feldman | Corey Williams |
| 2021 | ESPNU | Roxy Bernstein | Adrian Branch |
| 2022 | ESPNU | Dave Flemming | Mike O'Donnell |

### Radio

| Year | Network | Play-by-play | Analyst |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2010 | Westwood One | Dave Sims | Kyle Macy |
| 2011 | Westwood One | | |
| 2012 | Dial Global Sports | Kevin Calabro | Tom Brennan |
